THE sentencing of three men who struck their victim with bats and hacked his face with a machete has been delayed further.
Usman Multani, his younger brother Kaasim and Shahenul Alam were found guilty of grievous bodily harm with intent following the attack on Owais Saleem in Wyld's Lane, Worcester.
A jury returned a unanimous verdict in the case, but cleared the three of attempted murder.
Usman Multani, 27, of Westminster Road, Ronkswood, Kaasim Multani, 23, also of Westminster Road and Shahenul Alam, 32, of Ivor Road, Sparkhill, originally had been due to be sentenced on March 18, the day after the conclusion of the trial.
But that did not go ahead as the defendants faced outstanding charges which have to be resolved before sentence can be passed.
The sentencing hearing was rescheduled to take place at Worcester Crown Court on Friday, (June 6), but at that hearing Judge Nicholas Cartwright said the court had been told Kaasim Multani had suffered an episode while in custody, that now need needed psychiatric assessment.
The judge said there had been another issue as Shahenul Alam had been set to appear by videolink, but as he had not appeared the judge ordered he appear in person at future hearings of the case.
Judge Cartwright said another difficulty was that nothing had been resolved in the outstanding charges, despite the expectation that was going to being resolved shortly after the March hearing.
“It seems to me the inevitable result of all these difficulties is I’m going to need to identify another date for sentence,” the judge said.
After lengthy talks to ensure counsel from all sides could attend, a provisional sentencing date was set for July 22.
The trial heard the victim suffered a fractured skull and a bleed on the brain following the attack in the early hours of November 24, 2019, outside the St John's Ambulance building in Wyld's Lane.
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In the run up to the attack, there had been escalating tensions between two groups - the Multani group from Ronkswood that included Luke Bridger and a Zahid 'Ali' group.
The victim suffered a depressed skull fracture, a fracture to his cheekbone, a stab wound to the buttock, tendon damage and bone damage to his hand.
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