Parking row sees cyclist chased into church and beaten
A cyclist who complained while struggling to get past a badly-parked car was chased into a church and beaten up. Rawsht Abdullah had been sitting in the parked car with the car door open and his legs obstructing the pavement.
The cyclist told off Abdullah, 21, who got up and grabbed him by the shirt. Leicester Magistrates' Court heard the cyclist then made "insults referencing his mother and family" and Abdullah attacked him.
His solicitor, Olwen Davies, said: "He'd been fasting. He was enraged and there was a total loss of control".
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The court was shown CCTV from inside the foyer of Leicester Progressive Spiritualist Church in Lee Street, Leicester city centre. It showed the cyclist running into the church, tripping and falling into a table before Abdullah - who had been chasing him - grabbed him and repeatedly punched him before being pulled off by his friends.
Abdullah pleaded guilty to assault by beating of the young man when he appeared in court on Monday. Prosecutor Peter Bettany described the incident, which happened at about 6pm on Friday, April 19.
He said the cyclist had told the defendant, "Close your doors, you're blocking the road," but Abdullah replied, "I do whatever I want" before the argument heated up further.
Mr Bettany said: "The victim ran into the church foyer and fell over and hit his head and the defendant continued to attack him before being taken away." The man suffered a cut to his eyelid caused by the fall into the table, the court heard.
When he was arrested, Abdullah refused to answer questions during a police interview. Ms Davies told the magistrates about Abdullah's background, growing up in a Kurdish area of Iraq before fleeing on horseback and then being smuggled into the UK on a small boat over the Channel.
She said her client had been visiting his friends who worked at a shop in Lee Street. She added: "The manner of parking was stupid - his complaint was legitimate". But she added the car had not been parked by Abdullah.
She said: "The trouble started when he took the cyclist by the shirt collar and wanted to physically move him away. The cyclist began shouting and swearing, making references to his mother and family.
"You can imagine the terminology that would have been deployed. There was a complete loss of temper on Mr Abdullah's part. She said Abdullah was currently awaiting a decision on his claim for asylum.
The chair of the bench, Elizabeth Needham, sentencing Adbullah to a 12-month community order with 200 hours of unpaid work, described it as a "nasty attack". Abdullah, of Hobkirk Drive, Derby, was also ordered to pay £100 compensation to the cyclist.