Family of Sheffield man jailed for kicking sister in the head open up on their ‘living hell’

Abdul Aziz, aged 44, was sentenced to 16 months in prison at Sheffield Crown Court on 21 September after being found guilty of affray and assault occasioning actual bodily harm following an attack on Zainab Hakim on 21 July. He was found not guilty of two counts of threats to kill.

The mother-of-two was kicked in the head while on the ground during the assault outside her home in West Quadrant, Firth Park and left hospitalised for five days with a fractured cheekbone and head injuries. She is still suffering from her injuries.

Zainab’s eldest brother, Abdul Rashid, 52, said: "Nobody does that to family members. Nobody does that to a woman. Anybody that does that sort of stuff to a woman isn’t right.

“He’s got no mum, he should be treating her like a mother. There’s no words for it really, other than animals. He should have got more.”

The family, who grew up in Firth Park, have been torn apart since their mother’s death in 2016, which led to a dispute over the ownership of their parents’ West Quadrant home.

Abdul Rashid said the property legally belongs to Zainab but Aziz disputes this and has made life “hell” for his siblings.

He added: "[It’s been a] living hell. All you do is watch your back, you don’t know what they are going to do next.

The family have contacted police as many as 30 times since June 2017 but ‘they have been no use’, Abdul Rashid said.

He added: “We’re having to just live in fear, we can’t do the normal things we want to do.

"You lose faith in the police. You think they are there to protect, we don’t think we have had that support.”

A South Yorkshire Police spokesperson said: “This is a largely civil matter, but when police received reports of criminal behaviour an investigation was launched. An individual has subsequently been charged and convicted.

"The victim has received support throughout the police investigation, and has been referred to an independent domestic violence advisor to ensure she receives additional, specialist support.”