Sheffield New Year's Eve murder victim attacked with '˜severe force'

Zabair Hussain, aged 41, was found dead in Staniforth Road, Darnall, shortly before midnight on New Year’s Eve.

Sheffield Crown Court previously heard that Mr Hussain was attacked by three men, left for dead in the road, and then run over by a passing motorist.

Idris Sadiq, 30, of Darnall Road, denies a charge of murder. The jury was told that murder suspect Sohail Khan flew to Pakistan in the days after the attack and one suspect remains unidentified.

Pathologist Dr Naomi Carter described Mr Hussain’s head injuries as ‘severe’ in court yesterday.

She told the jury: “He had very severe head injuries, bruising to the face, several lacerations, one close to the left eye, and injuries around the mouth associated with the fracturing of his jaw.”

Dr Carter, who said Mr Hussain’s lip was torn off in the attack, told the jury his head injuries were not consistent with being run over by a car, but that his back injuries were.

She said he had ‘tramline bruising’ on his head, which is typical of being struck with a cylindrical object – such as a baseball bat.

Neuro pathologist Dr Daniel Duplessi said Mr Hussain suffered two bleeds on his brain. He said the bleeds had not caused the expected amount of swelling, due to Mr Hussain being killed by the car moments later.

But he did describe the head injuries as ‘potentially life threatening’ which would have rendered Mr Hussain unconscious – meaning he was unable to move away from the car.

Dr Duplessi told the jury: “The bleeds could have expanded. The swelling could have killed him if he had survived long enough.”

He added: “These are potentially life threatening head injuries. He would have been rendered unconscious and unable to move out of danger. It puts one in a vulnerable state.”

The trial continues.