Youth worker stabbed in head in Sheffield says it won't deter him from working with gang members

A Sheffield youth worker who was stabbed in the head by a vicious teenager has said it won’t deter him from working with gang members.
Bassan Khan has been jailed for attacking a Sheffield taxi driverBassan Khan has been jailed for attacking a Sheffield taxi driver
Bassan Khan has been jailed for attacking a Sheffield taxi driver

The man, who does not want to be named, works with community group Mums United in neighbourhoods around Sheffield, reaching out to gang members and mentoring young people.

However, in May last year he was on patrol in the Sharrow area of the city when he was brutally attacked by 19-year-old Bassan Khan on South View Road.

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Khan was yesterday jailed for two years and six months after pleading guilty to wounding and possession of an offensive weapon in a public place.

The victim said he was ‘still in shock’ over what happened, but that it would not stop him working to make a difference in communities around the city.

Recounting the attack, he said: “He came up to me with a knife and his mates had baseball bats and crowbars. They started hitting me and he stabbed me in the back of my head.

“I felt all this blood running down the back of my head and then he went back to his car and got a gun. Then the neighbours came out and he panicked and drove off.”

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At the time of the attack, the man said he had been working in the Sharrow area for some months, which had attracted Khan’s attention.

“I knew him from working in the area but he wasn’t interested in listening,” he said.

“He didn’t want us around as we were getting in the way of his business – but the attack won’t stop me working in these communities.

“If anything it has made me more determined to help all the other people who are doing such important work in Sheffield.”

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The victim revealed that after the attack he was contacted by Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who offered him words of encouragement and solidarity.

But the man added he did have concerns about whether the custodial sentence handed to Khan would have its desired effect.

“I didn’t want him locked up because I believe in rehabilitation,” he said.

“But justice has been served.”