Court told of 'cricket bat attack' on vulnerable man

A vulnerable man told a court that a former neighbour and two of his friends took it in turns to hit him with a cricket bat.

The alleged victim, who has learning difficulties, claimed at Burnley Crown Court that Ross Walsh, Sohail Abbas and Farran Abbas passed around the bat during the attack at Walsh’s Accrington home.

The prosecution claims that the attack was part of a series of assaults he endured over two months last summer at the hands of the three men.

The prosecution also claims that Mr Walsh had threatened him with torture.

Mr Walsh, 30, Sohail Abbas, 20, and Farran Abbas, 18, deny the claims.

The alleged victim, 30, told the court he was scared of the three men.

Giving evidence he said: “I remember all three of them used a cricket bat.  They were passing it on to each other.”

He added that he had forgotten details of his ordeal when giving a statement to police as result of the injuries he had suffered in the alleged assaults and the fear he felt of the men he claims attacked him. 

Prosecutor Joe Boyd say he was taken to hospital suffering from numerous fractures including a broken sternum, ribs and shoulder blades.

It was also claimed at the trial that Mr Walsh’s wife Christina Walsh, 36, had looked on during several of the attacks.

Robert Elias, representing Sohail Abbas, suggested that the alleged victim was lying and had made up parts of his statements to please police officers as the details had changed over time. 

But during cross examination via a video link the alleged victim said he had forgotten some details when he first gave a police statement because he was on a hospital bed at the time and was in a lot of pain.

He said: “I have memories that are right.  My memories are always right.

“At the time I was having difficulty trying to remember what happened to me because at the time I was scared.”

The complainant told the court that he would ‘never forget’ the alleged assaults.

He said during July and August last year he spent most days at the Walsh’s home on Hudson Street, Accrington, and had not realised how “serious the situation was”.

He said: “I didn’t realise until I was in the hospital that they were being dead serious.

“If I had realised a long time ago I wouldn’t have gone back to Ross and Tina’s.”

Mr and Mrs Walsh, of Hudson Street, Accrington and the Abbas brothers, of Midland Street, Accrington, have all denied conspiracy to cause GBH with intent.

*Proceeding.