Man denies arming himself with scissors

A MAN who was arrested after an armed siege in Ipswich town centre has denied deliberately arming himself with a pair of scissors before getting involved in a fight.

Adeeb Alsugair, 33, told a jury at Ipswich Crown Court that he didn't own a pair of scissors and had wrestled them off another man during the fight because he feared for his own safety.

Giving evidence on the third day of his trial Alsugair, who has denied an offence of wounding Mohmmed Mahmoud with intent to cause him grievous bodily harm, said he had stopped his car in Norwich Road, Ipswich on July 17 last year to drop off a friend.

He claimed that he was then approached by Mr Mahmoud who was upset at comments Alsugair had made a few days earlier about Egypt.

Alsugair said: “I told him if he liked Egypt that much why didn't he go back there.”

He had got out of his car to talk to Mr Mahmoud but had then seen another man behind Mr Mahmoud and had decided to get back into his car.

He claimed that Mr Mahmoud had hit him on the shoulder and when he turned round he saw the man with Mr Mahmoud holding a pair of scissors.

The man with the scissors had then come towards him. Alsugair, who gave evidence through an interpreter said: “I felt there was a big danger to me.”

He had grabbed the scissors causing injuries to his hands and had tried to get across the road to the Portugese Café.

He said Mr Mahmoud and the other man had kept hitting and punching him and he had punched back.

Alsugair added: “I didn't know the scissors were still in my hand because they were fighting me.”

He said he hadn't thrown the scissors away when he initially got hold of them because he had been scared the men were going to hurt him.

Alsugair, of Norwich Road, Ipswich, said he wasn't aware during the incident that he had injured Mr Mahmoud and had not seen any blood on him.

He said he did not know how stab wounds to Mr Mahmoud's body were caused.

It has been alleged that Alsugair was abusive to Mr Mahmoud and had deliberately stabbed him with a pair of scissors during a fight between them.

The court has heard that after the fight Alsugair had gone to his girlfriend's house in Norwich Road and had been arrested after armed police officers were called to the scene.

The trial continues today.