A gang of migrants have been jailed after they attacked a shop owner while wielding machetes.
Hana Hassan, 22, Yosek Shaban, 24, Osama Qadir, 21, and Dawan Mantik, 28, were sentenced to a combined 22 years in prison.
Ahmed Omar and Rahel Omer, two others involved in the attack, have fled the country.
It is understood that Hassan, Shaban, Qadir and Mantik, all Kurds from Iran and Iraq, arrived in the UK having crossed the Channel on small boats.
Fellow Kurd Kurwan Ali and his friends were the target of the attack which happened in Bournemouth, Dorset.
Sepan Qasim, one of the victims, was stabbed twice and suffered a collapsed lung in the “ferocious and frighteningly violent attack”.
Judge Pail Dugdale said: “The people of Boscombe just want to live their lives peacefully and do not want this sort of behaviour to take place.
The group were sentenced to a combined 22 years in prison
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DORSET POLICE
“People want to walk down the road without being scared. It causes fear in the community and makes people scared to go out.
“This is not a violent country. It is a country where people can walk freely in the street and we want to keep it that way.”
He added that their future, and potential deportation, “in all likelihood lies within the Home Office”..
It is understood the attack was provoked by a row which took place on January 27, 2024, at Bar So in the seaside town.
It is understood the attack occurred following a disagreement at Bar So
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Omar and Omer, both local business owners who provided the other defendants with accommodation and work, “rallied the troops” after the row, Winchester Crown Court heard.
Neither have been seen since the incident.
The four who appeared in the dock were charged with numerous offences, including grievous bodily harm, violent disorder and possessing violent weapons.
Six others had previously been acquitted.
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The police said ‘a high level of violence’ was used in the attack
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GETTY
Discussing the disagreement at Bar So, Judge Dugdale said: “Ahmed Omar ran a number of shops in the Boscombe area, which provide services to the Kurdish community.
“Kurwan Ali also ran some shops in the same area which also provided services to the Kurdish community.
“What the dispute between these two gentlemen was about did not really come out in evidence but I have absolutely no doubt there was a dispute.”
The gang of 12, many of whom were armed with machetes and knives, faced Mr Ali and his three friends on Christchurch Road.
Judge Dugdale said: “The four defendants in the dock were secondary parties in the incidents, and I accept that the injuries that were caused to Mr Qasim would have been caused by Omar and Omer.”
He continued: “These defendants were convicted after a nine-week trial. I accept that all four are previously of good character and are relatively young.
“None of them have been difficult prisoners. all four had a very difficult background history and start to their lives.
“All grew up in Iran or Iraq as part of the Kurdish community. All four came to the country by means that are not seen as legal. All have suffered traumatic incidents in their past.”
Detective Sergeant Adam Aggas, of BCP CID, said: “All four defendants were involved in an incident where a high level of violence and disorder was used for which they have now been brought to justice.”