Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
Student’s kick left female bouncer with broken hip
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A binge- drinking student broke a female bouncer’s hip with a flying kick after being thrown out of club for fighting.
Bouncer Linda Dubsky, 24, was left lying on the ground after hearing a “sickening snap” following the violent blow outside The Cuban bar in Canterbury.
She came face-to-face with her attacker in court this week, describing how she was left lying on the ground, terrified and in intense pain.
Ali Ketbi, 20, had caught her with a misdirected kick after resuming a punch-up with a friend in Guildhall Street.
In a poignant and eloquent letter addressed to Ketbi, which was translated into Arabic and read to him in the dock at Canterbury Crown Court, Ms Dubsky said: “As soon as you hurt me, my eyes shut and I heard a sickening snap in my left hip before I even fell to the ground.
“When I hit the floor I had a sudden rush of fear, I couldn’t move and all I could feel was pain in my lower back running all the way down my left leg.
“I couldn’t describe to you how terrifying the pain was even if I tried. I wish you knew how scared I was lying on the floor seeing my leg in a position it shouldn’t be in and not knowing what to do.
“I just remember looking up at the sky crying with snow and rain pouring on top of me for over an hour. I was so cold.”
Ketbi, who is from the United Arab Emirates and is studying engineering in Cardiff, pleaded guilty to inflicting grievous bodily harm and was ordered to pay his victim £3,000 compensation.
He was also given an 18- month prison sentence suspended for two years and ordered to wear an electronic tag for six months and do 240 hours of unpaid work.
Ms Dubsky, from Dover, Linda Dubsky, pictured right, had just turned 24 and was coming to terms with the recent death of her father at the time of the attack.
A keen runner, she was also focusing on training for a marathon to raise money for the Multiple Sclerosis Society, her mother being a sufferer.
In a victim impact statement read to the court, she revealed the full extent of her life-changing injuries and the impact not only on her but her loved ones.
She wrote: “When I turned 24 just a few days before I was hurt, I made a joke that evening and captioned one of my birthday pictures on Facebook stating now that I am officially another year older I will be using a walking frame before I know it.
“I didn’t expect six days later I would actually be in hospital recovering from my first ever operation with my first ever broken bone, my hip, and learning how to walk to the toilet with the aid of an actual walking frame.”
She told she was enjoying her job at the Cuban bar while caring for her ill mother. “I was doing my best to be strong, independent, still go to work
spent four days in hospital after the attack in February and is still suffering from pain from the life-changing injury.
Prosecutor Frances Lawson told how Ketbi, described by a friend as “a strict Muslim”, had been drinking heavily in the Canterbury club.
“The defendant was with two others and was asked to leave after an altercation,” she said.
“After the bar was closing, security staff became aware of an incident in Guildhall Street involving the defendant and his two friends, who were still fighting.” every evening, making sure people like yourself were safe when they were out,” she said. “I greatly believe that no matter how dangerous my job is, if you do it correctly and respectfully you shouldn’t encounter the violence which can sometimes come with the job.”
Ms Dubsky admits she was confused by what had happened to her, telling her attacker: “I have played the scene over and over again in my mind.
“Despite the whole ordeal being no more than a minute or two long, I still cannot work out why you did it.
“You hurt the person who spent that night working to protect you.”
The prosecutor added that one of Ms Dubsky’s colleagues subdued Ketbi and asked him to calm down.
As he released his grip, the student launched his flying kick, the court heard.
Carl Harris, Ketbi’s landlord in Cardiff, told the court that the student is sponsored by Emirates Airlines.
He said: “He is a very strict Muslim and normally never drinks or goes out.
“He is a very shy boy and given the chance he would have apologised for what he did in a heartbeat.”