Javed Akhtar and his sons spared jail despite battering two men with a hammer

Javed Akhtar, 50 and his sons Junaid Akhtar, 22, Jamshed Akhtar and Bilal Mohammed, 19 have been spared jail after they attacked two men with a hammer in a road rage attack in Rochdale.

All three defendants pleaded guilty to affray and were each given a 32 week prison sentence, suspended for 12 months.

Mohammed also pleaded guilty to a separate charge of common assault and criminal damage and was given an addition curfew, a 12 month supervision order and was ordered to attend an achieving peaceful solutions course.

Police were called to reports of a large group of men fighting on Salik Gardens in Rochdale in July 2013. The attack, which has been described as a “terrifying road-rage attack”, began after brothers Ghulam Hussain and Shamash Hussain stopped their car on Salkeld Street in Deeplish to help a friend.

Akhtar pulled up behind the vehicle in his silver Nissan Micra and started beeping his horn and claimed that the men were blocking the road.

Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court heard on Monday (24 November) that Akhtar was becoming irate at the situation and was swearing and trying to get out of the car. His wife, who was travelling with him was trying to keep him in the car.

He then told the men that he “would be back in five minutes” before driving off.

The Court then heard that a short time later the victims were confronted by Akhtar and a gang of between 10 and 15 men in Salik Gardens. Akhtar was carrying a small wooden hammer which he pointed at the two victims before the gang attacked them.

Ghulam Hussain was struck on the face near to his right eyebrow which caused it to bleed. In a police interview he stated that he was struggling to see and fell to the ground, where he was kicked and punched by the gang.

Shamash Hussain attempted to help his brother and ran towards the group, rugby tackling some of them to the ground. He was then attacked and hit across the nose with a hammer.

Witnesses called the police and both men were taken to hospital suffering cuts and bruises to their faces.

Akhtar and his three sons were later arrested at their home in Salik Gardens in relation to the attack. Police seized the silver Nissan Micra he was driving and discovered blood inside the passenger door which matched that of the victims.

Whilst on bail, Mohammed carried out a further attack in April this year using a broom handle to attack Waqaas Javed. After repeatedly hitting Mr Javed in the face through the open window of his car, he used the broom handle to smash the rear window.

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