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Uber Eats driver stamped on Grill 91 owner's head in Brenchley Gardens, Maidstone, leaving him brain damaged

An Uber Eats driver and self-styled preacher "lined up and kicked a restaurant owner's head like a rugby ball" as he lay prone on the floor in a town centre park, a court heard.

Hamdi Braeik, 34, attacked 35-year-old Grill 91 boss Mukhtar Hussain in Brenchley Gardens, Maidstone, at 7pm on May 30 after they rowed over the way a female member of Mr Hussain's team was dressed.

A cordon was put in place around the park. Picture: UKNIP
A cordon was put in place around the park. Picture: UKNIP

Braeik, of Hart Street, had gone to the Week Street takeaway to buy a vegetarian burger for a homeless person but took exception when he saw the woman with her "boobs hanging out".

He advised her to cover up but tensions boiled over when Mr Hussain confronted him.

The disagreement continued outside the restaurant and saw Mr Hussain encourage Braeik to follow him into nearby Brenchley Gardens.

Braeik claims what followed were efforts on his part to defend himself after Mr Hussain told him he had a knife.

He has admitted grievous bodily harm with intent but denies attempted murder.

He says while his actions were defensive he concedes the last few kicks were unreasonable. He wanted to "stop Mr Hussain chasing him", he said, and when he left him he was "on his knees" and not motionless on the floor.

But prosecutor Daniel Stevenson said no knife was recovered from the scene and Braeik's actions were "intended to kill".

Braeik rugby tackled Mr Hussain and got him in a choke hold until he passed out before stamping, kicking and jumping on his head as he lay motionless, he said.

CCTV from Society Rooms Wetherspoon shows Braeik "lining up Mr Hussain's head like a rugby player lines up a rugby ball and kicking him square in the head," Mr Stevenson said.

"In that moment he intended to kill Mr Hussain. But for the intervention of two good Samaritans he may well have succeeded," he added.

Police sealed off the park after the attack. Picture: UKNIP
Police sealed off the park after the attack. Picture: UKNIP

Braeik ran off when witnesses from the pub shouted at him.

The scene which confronted them as they reached Mr Hussain would later bring one to tears as he recounted it to police.

Mr Hussain was "bleeding from one ear" and "grunting like a horse".

He was airlifted to King's College Hospital in London where he underwent a CT scan which confirmed that he had suffered a bleed on the brain.

He is now an inpatient at a hospital specialising in rehabilitation.

'The defendant took exception to her appearance and questioned whether she was a woman and whether her trans identity was consistent with a belief in God, Jesus or Mohammed.'

"He remains profoundly cognitively impaired. He suffers from confusion and confabulation and does not have the capacity to give an account or to give evidence," Mr Stevenson earlier told the jury.

During police interview it was pointed out that after arriving in Brenchley Gardens and "calmly placing his bottle of water down" Braeik "launched an attack" and Mr Hussain ran away.

Braeik had told officers he was protecting himself but when it was pointed out that Mr Hussain had fled he responded by saying: “That's because he’s a *****,” adding that he chased Mr Hussain “because he had no faith”.

Three hours before the attack Braeik, of previous good character, had attacked a transgender woman and her friend in Fremlin Walk.

Mr Stevenson told the jury: "The defendant took exception to her appearance and questioned whether she was a woman and whether her trans identity was consistent with a belief in God, Jesus or Mohammed."

The park's bandstand was sealed off
The park's bandstand was sealed off

She responded "robustly and provocatively to his transphobic questioning" and in response he launched an attack on her, swinging punches to her face and attacking her friend. Fortunately, neither were seriously injured.

Later, he told police that he had assaulted them after he tried to warn them about judgment day.

He has admitted assaulting both of them.

The jury will retire to consider their verdict this morning.

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