Meat Cleaver Attacker Zahid Shah Jailed

A man who slammed a meat cleaver into a neighbour's head in a row over a door has been jailed for five years.

Zahid Shah, 31, was one of five bed sit residents sharing a house in Moseley, Birmingham, when a 40-year-old neighbour asking him if he'd seen the property's rear door key.

Shah responded by taking the cleaver from the communal kitchen and slicing into the man's head, splitting his glasses and cutting to the bone. The wound required 13 stitches.

When police arrived at the property they found Shah sitting in an armchair, wearing just his underpants.

Shah denied the attack until a couple of minutes before his trial at Birmingham Crown Court, before admitting one count of wounding with intent on Dec 14.

"The victim has asked a few people whether they had seen the door key - he was concerned it was missing and a potential security risk," said investigating officer Detective Constable Laura Harrison.

"For some reason Shah took offence to being questioned, reacted angrily and walked to the kitchen area where he picked up the cleaver.

"He struck his victim across the forehead in one hard, seift action. It caused a nasty injury, but one which could have been even worse.

"it's reassuring for the community that someone who can act so violently and unpredictably has been taken out of society for a considerable period of time."

The police were called by the mother of a schoolchild who saw Shah carrying the cleaver and ran home. Shah later discarded of the cleaver

"There was overwhelming witness evidence and help, but it was only at the very last minute, whilst witnesses were waiting at court ready to give evidence, that he entered a guilty plea," said DC Harrison.

"Courts normally reduce prison sentences by one third to take into account guilty pleas, but because Shah pleaded his innocence for so long the judge only took 15 per cent off the prison sentence he could have expected had he been found guilty after a trial."