Worker stabbed colleague in neck
A PIZZA shop worker stabbed his colleague in the neck and stomach in an unprovoked late night attack.
Samer El-hussein twice plunged a kitchen knife into Mohamad Kokash in the Swansea takeaway where they worked.
He then fled from the shop and tried to avoid police by not going home – he stayed first with a friend, then booked into a seafront B&B.
The German-national claimed the injuries to Mr Kokash had been caused by accident as he defended himself from his co-worker who had come at him with a knife.
But he was convicted of inflicting grievous bodily harm with intent at a four-day trial in Swansea Crown Court. Sentencing has been adjourned. El-hussein and Mr Kokash were both employed in Uplands Pizza on Gwydr Square in Uplands, Swansea, when, on the night of February 13 last year, the stabbing took place.
Mr Kokash had gone into the kitchen area of the shop to wash a serving utensil when the 29-year-old defendant, who was chopping salad and preparing coleslaw, “without warning and for no reason” stabbed him in the neck and body with the knife he was holding.
While the bleeding Mr Kokash ran to the nearby Frankie chip shop to seek help, El-hussein fled through the rear door of the takeaway.
The defendant was arrested the following evening on Oystermouth Road – when officers spoke to him he gave the false name of William Space.
During the trial El-hussein claimed Mr Kokash had been the aggressor on the night in question.
He said his co-worker had come at him with a knife while saying he had “seen things” in the Syrian civil war – the defendant told the jury that in trying to push his attacker away, the knife he was holding had come into contact with his co-worker and accidentally caused injury.
Samer El-hussein, of Burrows Road, Sandfields, Swansea, was found guilty of inflicting grievous bodily with intent, and a date for sentencing will be set next month. In the meantime he was remanded into custody.