A vicious landlord headbutted and knifed a terrifi

A vicious landlord headbutted and knifed a terrified tenant – and then offered to pay his private medical bills in return for retracting a police statement, the Old Bailey heard today.

(tue)

Shakeel Khan, 37, laid into Don Lowe just because he did not like the tenure of a note that had been written to him, alleged prosecutor Simon Connolly.

‘Wound up’ Khan confronted Mr Lowe, 46, at the flat in Hounslow, Middsx, fractured his nose with a head-butt and then stabbed him in the head with a flick-knife.

And Mr Lowe, who was then given a week to get out, dripped blood over a pnds stlg 400 cheque which he was made to sign by Khan, the court heard.

Mr Connolly alleged that after Mr Lowe reported the attack to police Khan contacted him and ‘politely’ offered to pay for his private medical treatment.

He even said Mr Lowe could stay in a nice little house at the bottom of his garden in Twickenham, the jury heard.

Mr Connolly said the trouble started when Khan took umbrage to a note written to him by Mr Lowe’s girlfriend early last year.

The court was told that Mr Lowe had experienced a number of problems with other tenants who used the same address in Spring Grove Road, Hounslow.

He asked his partner to write a letter to Mr Khan requesting a meeting.

But it was addressed simply to ‘Khan’ and not to Mr Khan, explained counsel, and its contents read: ‘Please meet to discuss the complaints.

‘

Mr Connolly added: ‘It may be that it caused some offence.

‘

The court heard that it was signed as coming from Mr Lowe and on February 11 last year Khan and a ‘handyman’ went to the address to talk to him.

‘Mr Khan took the note from his briefcase and was immediately angry, abusing and threatening,’ continued the prosecutor.

‘He was quite plainly wound up and Mr Lowe did not know what had upset him.

‘All of a sudden Mr Khan heabutted Mr Lowe in the face.

He was punching him and banging his head against the wall and kicking him whilst he was down.

‘Mr Khan then took a flick-knife from his pocket, took out the blade and stabbed Mr Lowe in the head.

Having done that he then continued to punch him.

‘

When the handyman finally persuaded Khan to stop the defendant then stood over Mr Lowe while he wrote out the cheque for pnds stlg 400.

Giving evidence Mr Lowe told the court: ‘He said if I wasn’t out in a week he would burn our things and poison our food.

I was shivering and I couldn’t see what I was writing.

He forced me to write out a cheque for pnds stlg 400.

‘Because my hand was shaking my signature wasn’t the same.

There was blood on the cheque.

‘

And he claimed that Khan and his sidekick threatened to kill him if he was not out in a week.

‘I was almost unconscious.

I looked in the mirror and I couldn’t see anything apart from blood.

‘

After Khan left Mr Lowe reported the assault and went to hospital.

But after he returned home Khan paid him another visit.

‘He was perfectly calm and behaved perfectly normally,’ said Mr Connolly.

Mr Lowe said he did not want to talk to him but Khan then offered to pay for private medical treatment, adding that he wanted to ‘take care of him.

‘

Khan then said he ‘could stay in a house at the bottom of the garden’ for the same price that he was paying to live in the flat, it was claimed.

But Mr Lowe reported the advances to police and Khan was arrested again.

But in interview the defendant claimed it was Mr Lowe who ‘went ballistic’ when he issued him with a ‘notice to quit’ the premises.

He said he used ‘reasonable self defence’ after Mr Lowe attacked him.

And Khan denied using a knife.

Khan, of Stanley Road, Teddington, denies wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and doing acts tending and intending to pervert the course of justice.

ends