An Oldham teenager who travelled to Sheffield to ambush and repeatedly stab a man outside a mosque has been jailed. Mohamed Shabaz has been locked up for 21 years for attempted murder.
The 19-year-old travelled from Greater Manchester in a stolen car. He then attacked the man from behind in a brutal assault.
Shabaz slashed the victim with a large kitchen knife before fleeing the scene leaving him for dead, the court heard. The man received life-threatening injuries and spent a number of weeks in hospital recovering from the assault.
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Detectives were able to identify Shabaz, of Manchester Road, Oldham, as the perpetrator of the attack following extensive CCTV and forensic examinations. He was arrested and later charged with attempted murder and possession of an offensive weapon in a public place.
Despite denying the offence throughout, he was found guilty of both charges at Sheffield Crown Court on Friday, May 27, and sentenced to 21 years. When passing sentence, the Judge said when Shabaz gave his evidence, it amounted to “a confection of falsehoods you peddled in the box” that the jury saw through.
Detective Constable Leon Hobson, from Sheffield’s CID team, said: “This was an extremely violent pre-planned attack that happened in broad daylight, and outside a place of worship just before prayer time, causing great shock within the local community.
“Shabaz travelled to Darnall from Oldham in a stolen car and waited for the victim outside of the mosque before approaching him from behind and stabbing him repeatedly.
“Shabaz then fled the scene in the stolen vehicle, where CCTV evidence showed that he sought to abandon it and made a failed attempt to set it on fire by dosing it in petrol, but it failed to light.
“Medical experts present at court stated that if it had not been for the assistance of members of the public, paramedics and surgeons, the victim would have certainly died as a result of the attack.
“I am pleased that Shabaz’s sentence reflects the severity of his actions and he is now behind bars for a very long time where he can cause no further harm.”
