A man who was released by police after being found with his trousers around his ankles went on to try to kill a female stranger in a nightlife area of Leeds, a court heard. Ibrahim Albashir, 34, originally from Sudan, was given a 25-year prison sentence along with an indefinite hospital order on Tuesday after admitting attempted murder at an earlier hearing.
Leeds Crown Court heard Albashir launched a "frenzied" attack with a broken bottle on a woman walking home from a meal, opposite the Original Oak pub on Otley Road in Headingley at about 9pm on March 17, 2024. The woman suffered injuries to her head, neck and chest. The attack only stopped when a group of men, including nearby doormen, intervened and one punched him unconscious.
Background and prior police contact
Two days before the attack, Albashir was stopped by police in the area after being found with his trousers round his ankles and in a "trance-like state", but he was released with no action taken. The court heard he ended up in Leeds after being thrown off a Manchester to York train for having no ticket.
Judge Robin Mairs explained how Albashir told doctors he was born and lived in Sudan until he was 25, then travelled via Libya and Italy to France, where he spent time in a mental hospital and was eventually refused asylum. He arrived in the UK from Calais having "used the services of people smugglers" and lived in Luton, Coventry and Birmingham before ending up in a hostel in Barrow-in-Furness.
Sentencing and victim impact
Judge Mairs said Albashir will be detained indefinitely in a secure mental hospital and, if he ever recovers, will be transferred to prison to serve the remainder of his sentence. He said it was not a matter for him whether the defendant is deported.
The judge described how Albashir grabbed the woman from behind in a stranglehold and stabbed her as many as 30 times with the glass. One witness described the attack as "frenzied" and another "thought he was trying to kill her". The judge said "it is by good fortune alone that (the woman) escaped with relatively minor injuries", but noted that the victim's mental scars are "profound and lifelong".
The woman's victim personal statement was read to the court. She said: "I still have no idea why he attacked me." She added that walking past the location of the attack "fills me with panic and dread", and described how the attack has "completely changed the way I live my life".
Consultant forensic psychiatrist Lucy Bacon told the court that all doctors agree that Albashir has catatonic schizophrenia. Katherine Robinson, defending, told the court the offence "would not have occurred had this defendant not been experiencing a psychotic episode", but said it must have been a "completely horrific and terrifying event" for the victim.
After sentencing, 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. Without their actions, this could very easily have been a murder investigation."
