Leeds man jailed 25 years for frenzied bottle attack on lone woman in Headingley

Ibrahim Albashir, 34, has been sentenced to 25 years plus an indefinite hospital order after admitting attempted murder in Leeds. Security staff from a nearby pub intervened, knocking Albashir unconscious to stop the attack.

Leeds pub security staff praised after stopping frenzied bottle attack on woman

Ibrahim Albashir, 34, has been handed a 25-year prison sentence and an indefinite hospital order after pleading guilty to the attempted murder of a woman in Headingley, Leeds, bbc.co.uk reports.

The attack took place at around 21:00 on 17 March 2024, as the victim was walking home from a meal out. Albashir grabbed her from behind in a stranglehold and stabbed her as many as 30 times with a broken glass bottle he was holding in his other hand.

Security staff from the nearby Original Oak pub on Otley Road responded after hearing the victim's "blood-curdling screams". They knocked Albashir unconscious to bring the assault to a halt, and treated the woman's injuries until paramedics arrived.

Leeds Crown Court heard that, despite the ferocity of the attack, the victim escaped with relatively minor physical injuries. Judge Robin Mairs said "it is by good fortune alone" that she survived, but noted her mental scars are "profound and lifelong".

In a personal statement read to the court, the victim, now 32, said: "My mental injuries are scars that will stay with me forever and will always affect me." She described how walking past the site of the attack "fills me with panic and dread" and said the incident has "completely changed the way I live my life."

Indefinite detention in a secure hospital

Judge Mairs explained that under the terms of the sentence, Albashir will be detained indefinitely in a secure mental hospital. Should he ever recover, he would be transferred to prison to serve the remainder of his 25-year term. The judge said the question of whether Albashir would be deported was not a matter for him to decide.

Consultant forensic psychiatrist Lucy Bacon told the court that all medical experts agree Albashir has catatonic schizophrenia. Katherine Robinson, defending, said the offence "would not have occurred had this defendant not been experiencing a psychotic episode", but acknowledged it must have been a "completely horrific and terrifying event" for the victim.

History of concerning behaviour

The court heard that Albashir, who is originally from Sudan, told doctors he was born there and lived until he was 25 before travelling via Libya, Italy and France — where he spent time in a mental hospital and was refused asylum. He told medical staff he arrived in the UK from Calais having "used the services of people smugglers", and subsequently lived in Luton, Coventry and Birmingham before staying at a hostel in Barrow-in-Furness. He ended up in Leeds after being removed from a Manchester to York train for travelling without a ticket.

Two days before the Headingley attack, police stopped Albashir in the same area after finding him with his trousers around his ankles and in a "trance-like state". He was released without further action.

Judge Mairs also noted concerns about Albashir's sexual conduct, including a sexual assault at a hotel in Birmingham and another involving a member of staff while he was detained in hospital. He also exposed himself to a doctor, the judge said. Judge Mairs told the defendant: "It is of significance you chose to attack a lone female", adding that "the common sense conclusion is that there was a sexual element to the attack."

Police praise security staff intervention

Detective Inspector Richard James of West Yorkshire Police said: "Albashir has approached a lone woman and subjected her to a ferocious, sustained attack which has only stopped thanks to the intervention of these security staff."

He added: "Thankfully they heard the victim's screams and rushed to her aid, potentially putting themselves in harm's way to protect her. They have not only detained Albashir but also treated the victim's injuries until the attendance of paramedics. Without their actions, this could very easily have been a murder investigation."

Albashir appeared via video link from hospital for the sentencing hearing.

Source: The Sun