Seven deny charges after Portslade barber shop brawl

Seven people have gone on trial charged with violent disorder after a brawl between people linked to two rival barber shops on opposite sides of the same street.

One man was stabbed in the fray and Richard Hearnden, prosecuting, gave a warning to jurors at Brighton Crown Court, as the trial got under way.

Mr Hearnden said: “When you see the video evidence for the first time, I think it’s fair to say that it will be shocking.

“This isn’t a film set with fake blood and stunt doubles but real people really being stabbed and bludgeoned.

“While this was violence on our streets, no one was killed and those hurt made a full recovery or are on their way to recovery.”

Mr Hearnden told the jury: “This case concerns an episode of serious disorder that happened in Portslade in April. The seven defendants in this case were responsible for the disorder.

“One of them, one of the defendants, was so badly injured that one of his co-defendants, unusually, has been charged with wounding him.

“The fact that he, the seventh defendant Sarbast Ibrahimi, was badly injured and is treated as a victim of crime does not absolve him from taking part in the violent disorder.

“The scene of this violent disorder is the street adjacent to two men’s barbers’ shops both of which are situated on opposite sides of the same road.”

The brawl started outside HB Barbers in Station Road, Portslade, on the corner of Franklin Road. It involved men linked with K Barbers, diagonally opposite, in Boundary Road, Hove.

Mr Hearnden said: “What is it that started this violent incident? Whatever the defendants might claim, it is overwhelmingly likely that there is bad blood between the owners of the respective barber shops.

“That enmity, if that is what it is, boiled over in the early afternoon of Tuesday 2 April when, at about 2.15pm, 999 calls started coming in to the police.

“Multiple members of the public said that there was a fight involving a large group of men who seemed to them to be associated with two different barber shops.

“The violent acts were seen to be taking place in Franklin Road.

“The first four defendants are from HB Barbers. The remaining three are from K Barbers. HB Barbers bears the initials of the first defendant, Hogr Banaee.

“It is a new business and had been open a short period of time before the violent episode in April. Hogr Banaee is one of two directors and is, in effect, the owner of the business.

“K Barbers had been owned by the fifth defendant, Ayob Mohammed, for about a year before the incident. It had previously been known as M&K Barbers, which had occupied the site for the previous three years.

“It seems that rivalry between these two relatively new establishments, in close proximity to one another, came to a head, leading to appalling violence witnessed by the public at large.”

Mr Hearnden said: “It was described as being ‘very chaotic’. Some offered assistance to the injured. Some called the police.

“The majority of the evidence comes from videos filmed either by static CCTV cameras or by people using their mobile phones.

“Within seconds of the eruption of violence, the third defendant, Kozheen Banaee, stabbed the seventh defendant, Sarbast Ibrahimi, in the shoulder.

“The weapon he uses is either a pair of haircutting scissors or a straight razor – the sort that barbers use.

“This is decidedly not self-defence. Even if Kozheen Banaee was defending himself or somebody else, the force used was disproportionate.

“But, in any event, what he did next went far beyond anything necessary to prevent further violence.

“Kozheen Banaee then dragged this bladed weapon down through Sarbast Ibrahimi’s arm.

“It was so bad that it caused a 15 cm long ‘de-gloving’ injury, an injury where the top layers of skin and tissue are torn away from the underlying muscle, connective tissue, or bone.

“Sarbast Ibrahimi also received a further wound to his forearm – a deep cut down to the bone.

“As a result of the disorder, at least three of the group, including Mr Ibrahimi, required emergency medical treatment … (He) would have died because of significant blood loss without intervention.”

“Kozheen Banaee, was also taken to hospital by ambulance. He had a wound on the right temple and a 4cm wound over the left shoulder. He had further wounds on his hands and legs.

“The fifth defendant, Ayub Mohammed, was similarly admitted to hospital. He had a scalp wound to the back of his head and was given stitches.

“The seventh defendant, Sardar Ibrahami, was seriously injured, as I have said, and has yet to make a full recovery.

“Kozheen Banaee injured him with intent to do him grievous bodily harm.”

Mr Hearnden told the jury: “Hogr Banaee (said) that the other group had walked past his shop, HB Barbers, and they had sworn at him in English and in their native Kurdish.

“He had just finished cutting a customer’s hair and that five men came over and tried to attack him. There was shouting and pushing and swearing, he said.

“He said that he thought he was going to die during the altercation and had no idea why he had been targeted.

“When Hogr was shown the footage, he confirmed that the object that he was holding was a torch, and it was kept next to the door by the till.

“He said that he grabbed the torch because he was worried as he saw the men returning to his barber’s shop with knives or scissors in their hands.

“He said that the K Barbers group then returned very quickly and attacked Hogr and his brother using
(planks of) wood.

“Hogr had to defend himself by putting his arm up and he got hit on the arm and he sustained a small stab or cut to his right cheek.

“When Hogr was shown further video footage, he got upset and said he cannot remember a lot of
the altercation.

“He said that he was worried and trying to defend his brothers and his brothers’ friend.”

Others claimed to be acting as peacemakers or in self-defence. Mr Hearnden said: “On the other side of the ledger, so to speak, Ayob Mohammed from K Barbers was questioned by officers.

“He made a short written statement. He said that HB Barbers had been harassing him ever since they opened.

“The day before, he was walking to work and Hogr started harassing him. He got others to come outside and the next thing he knew he was hit with a crowbar.

“He said that he did not remember much more, albeit he denied that he had unlawfully assaulted anyone and that he had no weapons with him.

“He said that he did not feel well enough to provide any further information and then answered no comment to all remaining questions in interview.”

Hogr Banaee, 24, of St Leonards Avenue, Hove, and formerly of Falmer Road, Brighton, and the Vega Building, Roman Road, Hove, and Gabriel’s Hill, Maidstone, is charged with violent disorder and having an offensive weapon in a public place.

Kosar Banaee, 19, of St Leonards Avenue, Hove, and formerly of the Vega Building, Roman Road, Hove, is charged with violent disorder.

Kozheen Banaee, 25, of St Leonards Avenue, Hove, and formerly of Dyke Road, Brighton, and Kent House, Romney Place, Maidstone, is charged with violent disorder and wounding Sarbast Ibrahimi with intent to do him grievous bodily harm (GBH).

Ali Husseini, 19, of St Leonards Avenue, Hove, and formerly of Dyke Road, Brighton, is charged with violent disorder.

Ayob Mohammed, 21, of The Maples, Ferring, Worthing, and formerly of Western Road, Brighton, is charged with violent disorder and having an offensive weapon in a public place.

Sardam Qadir, 31, of Lower Rock Gardens, Brighton, and formerly of Blacksail Walk, Oldham, is charged with violent disorder and having a plank of wood as an offensive weapon in a public place.

Sarbast Ibrahimi, 25, of Somerhill Avenue, Hove, and formerly of Ingram Road, Boston, Lincolnshire, is charged with violent disorder and having a plank of wood as an offensive weapon in a public place.

Judge Stephen Mooney is hearing the case with a jury of five men and seven women. The trial continues.