‘I’m an Aussie, don’t turf me’

A CHEF who bashed his neighbour, kicked him while unconscious and threw a metal pole at him will be deported to Iraq when he is let out of jail.

Saher Banham Akram attacked his Southport neighbour because he incorrectly thought the neighbour had stolen something from him. The man suffered a fractured jaw and elbow.

Akram also shot a gel blaster at his neighbour’s window.

He pleaded guilty in the Southport District Court to grievous bodily harm, assault occasioning bodily harm, wilful damage, threatening violence and common assault.

The 43-year-old, who has been in Australia since he was 12, had his humanitarian visa cancelled after the assault, the Southport District Court was told. Akram’s barrister Damien Gates, instructed by Karsas Lawyers, said: “He considers himself Australian and this is his home.”

Akram is appealing the decision to deport him to Iraq.

Mr Gates said when Akram was a child he became separated from his family during the war and it was by chance an uncle found him in a village and reunited him with family.

Crown prosecutor Christopher Cook said Akram shot a gel blaster at the victim’s home and smashed a window with a steel bar on November 1 last year.

Later that day, the victim was walking down the street with his roommate when Akram approached them. The pair tried to avoid him, but Akram lunged and started throwing punches.

Mr Cook said the victim threw Akram to the ground and tried to walk off. “(The victim) was then struck in the back of the head. He fell forward, struck his head on the concrete and lost consciousness.”

While the victim was on the ground, Akram kicked him multiple times, including in the face. When the victim returned home, Akram threw a steel bar at him, hitting him on the elbow and fracturing it.

Mr Cook said a little more than a fortnight later Akram approached a stranger on the street and offered to sell him something. When the deal went south Akram pulled a Swiss army knife and threatened to “shank him”.

The complainant told Akram he had children, but Akram replied: “I don’t care.”

Judge Deborah Holliday sentenced Akram to four years in prison, to be suspended after he has served 14 months. “It is completely unacceptable in a civilised society to commit such acts of violence,” she said.

Akram has been in custody since the assaults, but had served a sentence for other charges. The court was told Akram had a criminal history in Queensland, Victoria and New South Wales dating back to when he was aged 19.

The most recent assaults were his first violent offences.