Derby Telegraph

Father-of-four left suspected garden intruder needing stitches

- By MARTIN NAYLOR martin.naylor@reachplc.com

A DERBY dad-of-four, who had never been in trouble before, chased after and beat up a man he believed was acting suspicious­ly in the front garden of his city home.

Derby Crown Court heard how Omar Mehboob knocked the victim to the ground and assaulted him, leaving him requiring 18 stitches to various wounds.

The 34-year-old, of Normanton, then left the scene while the person he attacked had to go to hospital.

Handing him an 18-month jail term, suspended for 18 months, Recorder Adrian Reynolds said: “Omar Mehboob, I don’t know exactly what happened that night, but it certainly does not throw any credit on you. You are a married man who has four children and is working and you have not been in trouble before. There are other ways to deal with disputes without resorting to taking the law into your own hands. But I believe this was out of character and mercifully [the victim] was not injured seriously.”

David Lee, prosecutin­g, said the offence took place at around 3am on the morning of April 19, 2020.

He said Mehboob went out in a car looking for two people who he believed had been in the front garden of his home in Lower Dale Road, acting suspicious­ly.

Mr Lee said: “The police received two reports, one from the defendant and one from the complainan­t. “The first was of people being in his front garden and then the complainan­t contacted the police to say he had been attacked by someone who had come looking for him. He said the defendant got out of the car and attacked him, causing injury by knocking him to the ground. He (the victim) went to hospital where he was seen by a specialist, receiving treatment which required 18 stitches in total. He appears to have received seven cuts but there is no evidence of a knife being used or found.” Mehboob admitted assault occasionin­g grievous bodily harm and has no previous conviction­s of any kind. James Bide-Thomas, mitigating, said: “It is a slightly odd factual situation which led to the offences which were out of the ordinary. However, he is a 34-year-old man of previous good character and who has not offended in any way since.”

There are other ways to deal with disputes without resorting to taking the law into your own hands. Recorder Adrian Reynolds

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