A MACHETE attacker who stabbed an Eid worshipper in the stomach during morning prayers at a Bradford mosque was today found to have ‘done the act’ alleged against him.

A jury at Bradford Crown Court this afternoon determined that Fezan Hussain had plunged the large knife into his victim’s abdomen as they embraced as a traditional sign of peace at the Madni Masjid Mosque on Newton Street in West Bowling.

Hussain, 27, of Radfield Road, Wyke, Bradford, was not before the court after it was ruled at an earlier hearing that he was ‘unfit to plead’ to a charge of attempted murder.

Judge Jonathan Rose told the jury they must decide if he ‘did the act’ alleged by the Crown by stabbing the man.

He said that Hussain wasn’t fit to stand trial. Through no fault of his own, he was too unwell to play any part in the proceedings.

The victim, a man in his 20s, had his police interview played in court and the jury watched CCTV of the stabbing in the prayer room on May 2.

The man said he was hugging Hussain after morning prayers when he suddenly stuck the machete into him.

He told how Hussain was trying to push it further into his abdomen during the attack.

He said he was at prayers in the mosque with a hundred other worshippers. He met five or six of them afterwards and was hugging Hussain when he pulled out the machete and stabbed him straight in the stomach.

He took a few steps backwards and collapsed on to the floor. Hussain looked ‘right angry’ and was staring at him, he said.

“He did it that fast. It must have been tucked in his pants…he had his hand on it and he was trying to push it in more,” he said.

He described the machete hanging out of him as he pushed Hussain away.

He had known him from childhood but hadn’t seen him for about three years. They had never had any problems. He said he knew Hussain was missing his right hand.

“He stabbed me literally as I hugged him. I saw it stuck in me. I went backwards and collapsed on the floor,” he said.

Jonathan Sharp, barrister for the Crown, said Hussain was ‘under a disability’ and not part of the court proceedings.

He took a large knife from home to the mosque and stabbed the man in the abdomen ‘with no motive or reason.’ The injuries were very serious and the victim was in hospital for weeks.

Mr Sharp said Hussain concealed the large knife under his robes. He had bought it by mail order the previous month and had it delivered to his home.

He sat down on the floor in the mosque and adjusted the knife that was concealed in his trousers.

After prayers, he got up with the other worshippers and went up to the victim who recognised him from childhood. He thought they were going to embrace as a traditional sign of peace.

But Hussain pulled out the knife and stabbed him. The blade went into his liver causing really serious internal damage.

Paramedics called to the mosque assessed that the man was ‘at great risk of death,’ Mr Sharp said. He had a ten centimetre injury to his liver and a section of it had died.

He was operated on that day and needed blood and plasma transfusions. He was transferred to the intensive care unit at St James’s Hospital in Leeds for further treatment.

David McGonigal, Hussain’s barrister, made no submissions on the facts of the case.

Judge Rose told the jury the defence did not contest the allegations but it was up to them to decide if the Crown had proved its case.

After the jury had found that Hussain did the act, Judge Rose adjourned the proceedings until December 1.

He asked the Crown for a victim personal statement to discover if the man had made a full physical recovery and if he was psychologically damaged by his terrible ordeal.

He said Hussain would stay remanded in custody ‘unless and until he was transferred to a hospital.’