Leeds student glassed and scarred for life after accusing men of filming his girlfriend

A Leeds student was glassed and left with permanent scars after he confronted two men who were allegedly filming his girlfriend dancing.

23-year-old cousins Sahaar Malik and Cyrus Malik attacked the unnamed student during a karaoke night at Box bar in Headingley.

Sahaar, of Town Street, Stanningley, and Cyrus, of Wakefield Road, Gildersome, both plead guilty at Leeds Crown Court to unlawful wounding following their arrest.

The victim of the attack had been at Box with his girlfriend when the defendants allegedly began filming her dancing, the Yorkshire Evening Post reports.

The student confronted the men about the footage, taking the phone. This led Sahaar to “lash out” and punch the student.

Prosecutor Carmel Pearson told the jury: “[The glass] was then thrown at him and hit him in the face.”

Others intervened to try and stop the attack, but Sahaar followed the victim as he backed away to the other side of the bar.

Ms Pearson said: “The second defendant, Cyrus Malik, launched a blow to his face which clearly connected with him before the first defendant also involved himself again.”

According to Leeds Live, the student was able to alert the door staff to the incident and the defendants were detained until police arrived at the scene.

The victim was taken to hospital, having sustained cuts to his right eyebrow, cheek and lower lip, as well as swelling and bruising on his cheekbone. A back molar was also fractured.

A victim impact statement revealed how the third-year student has been left with injuries that will “last a lifetime” because of scarring on his face.

It was further noted that he has subsequently moved in with his partner’s family because he feels “very wary” of being in the Headingley area.

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Richard Holland, mitigating for Sahaar, claimed the phone wasn’t directed at the victim’s girlfriend, and was capturing footage of everyone on the dance floor.

He also told the court that Sahaar didn’t intend to cut the man and that he had been trying to throw his drink over the victim when the glass slipped from his grip.

Holland acknowledged that regardless of these circumstances, what happened next was completely unacceptable.

He said: “[Sahaar] has shown genuine remorse and genuine reflection on what happened. He no longer drinks alcohol and wants to apologise to the victim.”

Mitigating for Cyrus, Jonathan Turner said the defendant was ashamed of his actions and would make “any effort” to compensate the victim.

Judge Recorder Edward Legard told the defendants: “It’s particularly sad to see two young men of hitherto good character, both with strong work ethics, to find yourselves in a court on a charge of this severity.

“I have no doubt that both of you are thoroughly ashamed of yourselves, and having brought similar shame on your families.

Feature image via Google Street View 

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