A HEROIN addict has been jailed after he stabbed a man with a Swiss army knife on Cowley Road.

Mohammed Nazir attacked 25-year-old Hamza Jahangir over a debt dispute on July 8 this year, leaving him with a collapsed lung.

The 39-year-old pleaded guilty to causing grievous bodily harm and was yesterday sentenced to 26 months in prison at Oxford Crown Court.

Elisabeth Bussey-Jones, prosecuting, said Nazir waited outside the Simpli Fresh store, where his victim worked, at about 9pm.

Our top stories

She told Judge Zoe Smith Mr Jahangir tried to shake the defendant’s hand but Nazir immediately started throwing punches, and within seconds stabbed him under his left armpit.

Miss Bussey-Jones said Mr Jahangir was taken to the John Radcliffe Hospital where he was treated for a punctured lung.

He was discharged the same day, but still suffers from pain, dreams about the incident and requires continuing treatment.

The barrister added that Nazir had previous convictions for robbery, burglary and drug possession.

Alistair Grainger, defending, said his client had brought the knife with him for “protection” and had not planned to stab Mr Jahangir.

He said: “Heroin seems to be the background to a lot of his offending.

“Once again we see here a reasonable life that has been ruined by drug addiction.”

Jailing Nazir, Judge Smith told him to pay a £120 victims’ surcharge.

Detective Constable Chris Gulvin said: “This was an unprovoked and violent attack against a young man which could easily have caused even greater harm to the victim.”

 

  • Do you want alerts delivered straight to your phone via our WhatsApp service? Text NEWS or SPORT or NEWS AND SPORT, depending on which services you want, and your full name to 07767 417704. Save our number into your phone’s contacts as Oxford Mail WhatsApp and ensure you have WhatsApp installed.