A man kicked a stranger’s head like a football after they’d gotten into a fight over sharing a spliff. Omar Suleiman, 26, was sitting alone on a bench, drinking a can of cider and smoking in Alexandra Park when he was approached by the man.
They spoke briefly before the man asked to have some of the cannabis cigarette Suleiman was smoking. He refused and an argument quickly developed into a scrap with the victim attacking him first.
In response, Suleiman, of Hulme, launched a brutal attack on him, repeatedly punching him to the face.
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Other park-users looked on in horror as he used the man like a ‘punching bag’ with some not initially believing the man on the floor was a human being. He then took a running kick to the man’s head, ‘kicking it like a football’.
He eventually stopped, despite their interventions, and left the park. The man was in a coma for a number of weeks and suffered a traumatic brain injury, Manchester Crown Court heard.
Suleiman has since pleaded guilty to wounding with intent and was jailed for over seven years.
Prosecuting, Andrew Evans said that on March 25 last year the victim approached Suleiman and they started making small talk. He then asked about the spliff, and he said no.
He continued asking about the spliff before ‘exploding in rage’.
“He pulled the defendant to the ground and punched him to the body and face,” Mr Evans said. “The complainant got off him before kicking him to the body and face.”
During the initial attack the victim pushed his thumbs into Suleiman’s eyes, before he responded in ‘excessive self defence’.
“A witness who had just stopped exercising saw two girls concerned about something and saw they were looking at two men fighting,” Mr Evans continued.
“One sat astride the other. For two minutes he was punching the person with such blows that he was shocked to find it was a real person.
“He described the punching as ferocious. The complainant was being punched by the defendant.”
Suleiman eventually stopped and dragged the unconscious man to his feet. He tried to throw him which caused him to fall to the floor and he didn’t move.
He turned to the witnesses and told them he was getting beaten up. Then all of a sudden he took a ‘running kick’ to the man’s head, before kicking him a few more times.
A passing cyclist who stopped nearby described the attack as ‘vicious’, with others saying he looked ‘crazy’. They were fearful of what Suleiman could do and were left in shock, the court heard.
A few people intervened telling him to stop and that he had ‘done enough’, but he continued the attack by throwing items including a bottle at the man on the floor. He left the park when more people came to see what was going on. As they went to assist the victim, they found his eyes were swollen shut, his jaw was misaligned and he was covered in lumps.
He was rushed to hospital where he was found to have a broken eye socket and bleeding on the brain. He had a tracheotomy and remained in intensive care for a number of weeks. He has since discharged himself and has not provided a victim impact statement, though a doctor described his injuries as ‘particularly grave’.
Suleiman, who was born in Somalia and moved to the UK with his family in 2000 was said to have two previous convictions for three offences, including possession of a knife.
Defending, Ian McMeekin said it was a ‘merciful consequence’ that the victim recovered from the attack.
“His family are unable to rationalise what took place, and why. There was unanimous nodding when it was suggested that the combination of alcohol and cannabis on a young individual was lethal and provoked an uncharacteristic response,” he said.
“The defendant wishes to express his genuine remorse to the victim. This was wholly out of character.”
Sentencing, Judge Elizabeth Nicholls said: “Witnesses were shocked by the brutality and one couldn’t believe the victim on the floor was another human being.
“This conduct went far beyond excessive self defence - it was revenge. This was a brutal, shocking, persistent act of violence in a public place.”
Suleiman, of Aquarius Street, Hulme, was jailed for seven years and two months. He will have to serve two thirds of his sentence before he is released on licence.
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