Police Appeal for Information from Public
A loving father of five is fighting for his life in a coma after being attacked with a brick.
Mahmoud Hussein, 46, who is originally from war-stricken Palestine, was viciously attacked near his home in Stechford, leaving him with serious head injuries. The family moved to the Midlands eight years ago.
His distressed wife, Eman Tahaineh, and children have held a bed-side vigil since the attack at Birmingham’s Queen Elizabeth Hospital, nearly two-weeks ago.
Commenting on the incident, brother-in-law, Nadel Arif said, “he had no enemies, yet he was brutally attacked by a thug outside shops in Stud Lane on December 20 after he had popped out to the local chemists. Most of the time Eman is crying, she is afraid for the future.”
No arrests have been made yet.
An emotional Eman said, “It’s very difficult, I’m counting the hours and minutes until he wakes up.”
They have four sons and a daughter, aged from nine months to 14-years-old.
When asked about his brother-in-law, Nadel said, “He spent most of his time teaching his children, teaching them mathematics, he’s got hundreds of notebooks.
“He told me his children are the most expensive thing he had and he was every day concerned about them.
“The children ask every day about him and we have said ‘he’s just a little bit sick’.
“His 14-year-old is still unaware about what could happen. He tells his mother, ‘I don’t like you to see me crying’.”
Mahmoud suffered a head injury, fractured jaw, a fracture above his right eye and a serious injury to his knee in the unprovoked attack.
Having undergone brain surgery four days ago Mahmoud is now in a critical care unit, where his condition is stable.
“The doctor said it’s different from man to man and they can’t determine what time he will wake up,’’ said Nadel. “They are trying every day but there is no result yet.”
“I know my brother-in-law, he is a peaceful man. From his house to his work he has no enemies at all,” he said.
“I’ve reported to the police there are no enemies, only one enemy.”
Detective Inspector Nick Dale said, “The level of violence shocked not only the family but officers dealing with it. We suspect that members of the community will know who committed this offence. If that’s the case then it’s likely people are keeping that information and keeping the individual away from police attention.
“This is an appeal that anybody with any information about who has done this and where they are, comes forward and speaks to police about it.
“We don’t know what the motivation for it is, it seems to be an assault that came out of the blue.”
DI Dale added: “We are aware of concerns raised by residents of anti-social behaviour with youths gathering at the block of flats, causing a nuisance and taking drugs. These concerns were being looked at by the local neighbourhood team which is working with residents to resolve the issue.
“Our records show there have been eight calls made to us by Mr Hussein since 2012 relating to concerns of drug taking at the flats.
“The serious assault on Mr Hussein was not near his home address but some distance away whilst he was on a shopping trip; there is nothing to suggest the anti-social behaviour is linked to the assault though clearly it does form part of our enquiries.”
• Anyone with information is asked to call police on 101 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
