Police called after disturbance in which man armed with saw was kicked with slippers by woman, 76

A parking dispute led to a large row in which a man armed with a saw was attacked by a grandmother with a slipper. Leicestershire Police attended Myrtle Road in Evington, Leicester, after an argument over a van which was parked on the street, blocking a taxi driver who was trying to leave his home.

The driver of the van, Mohammad Tokhi, 33, had armed himself with a saw, and the taxi driver’s brother, Abdul Razak, 43, had armed himself with a metal pole. Both men were arrested and charged with weapons offenses and threatening behavior with intent to cause fear of violence.

However, at Leicester Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday (June 12), those charges were dropped and the pair were instead charged with the lesser offense of disorderly conduct, to which they both pleaded guilty. They appeared in court together, with the chair of the magistrates’ bench, Gareth Roberts, warning them to behave themselves as they sat just meters away from each other.

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Prosecutor Adeel Zafar described how, at around 7.45pm on Sunday, May 26, Leicestershire Police received a report from a resident about men shouting and swearing in Myrtle Road. This was followed by another call from Tokhi himself, who complained that residents on the narrow road were coming out of their houses and causing him trouble because of the way he parked his van.

Mr Zafar said that when officers arrived in the street, the two men had been separated but saw Razak armed with a pole and his grandmother hitting Tokhi with a slipper. Tokhi, of Cossington Road, Coventry, told police he was working at a seafood shop in Leicester where a friend was doing shop fit-out work, so he drove to Myrtle Road to pick up his friend and tools to take them to the store.

He said a taxi driver who could not pass the van started honking and shouting “move the van” at him and told the taxi driver – who was Razak’s brother – that there was enough space for him to pass . When other people came out of their houses, Tokhi took a saw – one of the tools that belonged to his friend – to defend himself.

Razak told police his family came to collect him from his Myrtle Road home and arrived to find Tokhi “yelling and threatening to punch me”. He said: “I was scared for my niece and my 76-year-old mother and grabbed a metal pole in self-defence.”

Sajid Munir, representing Tokhi, said: “He accepts that by shouting in the street others may have been caused alarm and distress.

Prakash Morar, for Razak, said the initial argument did not involve his client at all and he “came out of the house as a peacemaker” before getting into an argument with Tokhi. He said: “He regrets his actions. There was an element of challenge.

“His only concern was the safety of his family.” He added that Razak, like his brother, worked as a taxi driver and could lose his taxi license because of the criminal conviction.

Mr Roberts told both men: This was a very serious incident.” Both were fined for the crime based on their income.

Tokhi was fined £166 with £85 court costs and a £66 victim surcharge. Razak was fined £346 with £85 costs and a £138 victim surcharge.

No action was taken against the woman with the slipper.