Brothers who punched woman, 59, in the face and split open her lip spared jail

Two brothers who had punched a woman, 59, in the face during a row over football scuffs on their neighbour’s car in a Manchester suburb have been spared jail.

Shahid Alam, 44, has been sentenced to 27 weeks in jail which is suspended for 18 months, while his older brother Tuhudul Alam is subjected to a two-year community order and 200 hours of unpaid work.

Both were found to have used violence, causing injuries to their neighbours in the “disgraceful incident” which took place in Withington in June 2018.

It all began with one of the siblings’ children allegedly kicking a football against their neighbour's car leaving marks on the vehicle.

Shahid walked to the neighbour’s house and CCTV footage showed him knocking on the front door. As the door opened, he entered the house. It was followed by a scuffle between him and his neighbours during which Shahid was punched in the face.

At this juncture, the woman came out of the house, only to be pushed backwards.

Prosecutor Joe Boyd told Manchester Crown Court: “There were punches being thrown, they were ripping hair out and punching the elderly woman” during the “long assault”.

Tuhudul, who was driving at the moment, joined his brother.

“The group were standing on the edge of the drive when Shahid Alam walked towards the mother, and, with no provocation, punched the elderly mother to the face causing her to fall to the floor. It also caused her lip to be split open”, the prosecutor said.

While both siblings admitted affray, Shahid also pleaded guilty to assault.

Judge Alan Conrad KC said both defendants “pleaded guilty to charges which arose from a quite disgraceful incident on your neighbours.”

“Violence was used by both of you and injuries were caused to the family. During the incident, both of you punched a woman, who was much older than you. You should be ashamed of that,” the judge said while sentencing them.