Man (24) caged for stabbing takeaway workers during raid

Jun 26 2008 by Alastair McNeill, Hamilton Advertiser

A BLANTYRE man who stabbed two Burnbank restaurant workers during a raid was this week jailed for five years.

John Bonner (24), of Auchinraith Terrace, was fuelled by Buckfast and Valium when he attacked the men at the Bombay Tandoori, Glasgow Road, in October 2006.

Bonner led a masked gang that burst into the Glasgow Road takeaway and demanded cash.

Brave owner Irshad Hussain and his colleague Anzar Patel were knifed repeatedly as they tried to fend Bonner off.

Both men later collapsed bleeding in the shop after the mob raced off.

Mr Hussain's wife was so concerned that she gave her husband the Last Rites, believing that he was going to die.

Bonner returned to the dock at the High Court in Glasgow this week after earlier admitting charges of assault and attempted robbery.

It emerged he had previous convictions for violence and carrying knives at the time of the offence.

Judge Mark Stewart QC locked Bonner up and ordered him to be supervised for a further three years on his release.

The court heard how Bonner, friends John Morrison and Peter McQueen, along with another man, stormed into the takeaway with their faces covered on October 29, 2006.

Mr Hussain's wife Naseem became alarmed and her husband came out while Bonner was demanding money.

Mr Hussain was joined by workmate Mr Patel and another colleague Hassan Jabbar.

The shop owner tried to grab a six-inch knife that Bonner was clutching but he and Mr Patel were then stabbed.

Staff grabbed pots and pans and chased Bonner and the gang out of the shop.

Mr Hussain and Mr Patel returned inside but both men collapsed due to their injuries.

Paramedics arrived and rushed the men to hospital. Both required surgery for their life-threatening injuries.

The court heard that Mr Hussain was left with a six-inch scar and that the incident had left him “depressed, very angry and short tempered”.

Mr Patel also has a scar and he remains frightened that a similar incident may happen again.

Bonner was later traced and arrested while locked up in Barlinnie prison in connection with another matter.

John Morrison and Peter McQueen were each jailed for nine months for their roles in the raid at an earlier hearing.

James Robinson (25), of Croftbank Crescent, Blantyre, also went on trial along with Bonner, but his not guilty pleas were accepted.

The court was told that Bonner had previously served two jail terms for serious assault.

He had also breached a probation order imposed for carrying a knife.

Liam Ewing, defending, said Bonner and the others had consumed a large quantity of Buckfast and “hundreds” of Valium tablets prior to the incident.

Mr Ewing added: “He has little recollection of the circumstances of the offence. He regrets very much his involvement in it.”