Knife attacker avoids jail over stabbing outside Maidenhead Mosque amid ‘family feud’

A teenage knife attacker has avoided jail after he stabbed a relative multiple times outside Maidenhead Mosque following a months-long ‘family feud’.  

Ibrar Shahzad, 18, was sentenced at Reading Crown Court to an 18-month youth rehabilitation order, a three-month GPS monitoring requirement, 40 hours of unpaid work, and to pay a £26 victim surcharge.

Shahzad was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder but was later charged and pleaded guilty to causing grievous bodily harm after the broad daylight attack outside the gates of the mosque in 2025.

At Reading Crown Court on Friday (February 6), Judge Neil Millard said Shahzad had committed ‘very serious’ offences, but that his ruling would ‘focus on rehabilitation’.

Judge Millard said the attack had come ‘in the heat of the moment’ and Shahzad ‘didn’t really think through’ his actions.

As the attack and guilty plea had been entered when Shahzad was 17, Judge Millard said, he had to be ‘dealt with as a youth’.

CCTV footage presented to the court showed how the attack had unfolded following Friday prayers on the afternoon of May 30, 2025.

A crowd of people were gathered around the gates of the mosque in Holmanleaze Road.

Two people, the attack victim Zaffran Zaman and Shahzad’s father Mohammad, were involved in what Judge Millard described as a ‘tussle’ on the street outside.

Shahzad, wearing a hooded jacket, could be seen standing in the crowd behind Mr Zaman when he produces a knife and begins a lunge towards his victim.

He stabbed Mr Zaman three times in his left side and thigh ‘before retreating back towards the gates of the mosque,’ prosecution barrister James Preece told the court.

Mr Preece added: “In doing so, he throws the knife on the floor, which is then picked up by another member of the public.”

The court heard how the attack had left Mr Zaman with a punctured lung and an injured spleen, which required an operation. He has since been discharged from hospital. 

Shahzad and his father were arrested on suspicion of attempted murder over the attack, but were later charged with causing grievous bodily harm.

Mohammed Shahzad was found not guilty by a judge, Recorder G Bull KC, on November 24, after the prosecution said its ‘main witnesses have withdrawn from proceedings’.

Ibrar Shahzad pleaded guilty to one charge of section 20 grievous bodily harm and one charge of possession of a knife in a public place at a case management hearing on January 2.

The prosecution entered no evidence on a charge of section 18 wounding with intent.  

At the sentencing, Judge Millard described the offences as ‘very serious’.

He added: “You were, crucially, 17 at the time you pleaded guilty to these matters.

“So, I have to deal with you as you are a youth.”

He said he agreed with the findings of a report prepared by Shahzad’s defence that had determined Shahzad did not meet the threshold to be found guilty of causing grievous bodily harm 'with intent'.

“In the heat of the moment, your father was threatened in this family feud, you didn’t really think through what you were doing,” Judge Millard said.

The court heard how the family dispute had been over ‘some computer games’ and had ‘lasted for some months’.

Judge Millard told Shahzad: “Although this is your offending, I have to note… this is a matter that should have been de-escalated by the adults present.

“They are adults, they have lived their lives, they should have done more to de-escalate tensions.”

Shahzad’s defence, represented by Emma Oliver, said: “He has recognised the horrendous impact this has had on many people, some of which are sitting in this courtroom.”

A handwritten letter Shahzad had provided to the court, Ms Oliver said, said he was studying for a career in the construction industry.

Judge Millard said a statement from Shahzad read: “I accept full responsibility of my behaviour and I’m deeply ashamed that my actions brought me before the court.”

The judge, who earlier in proceedings said Shahzad had ‘led an exemplary life until this point’, said he would impose a sentence with a ‘focus on rehabilitation’.

Shahzad, of Doggett Road in Catford, was handed an 18-month community order which included a supervision requirement.

Shahzad will be monitored by GPS for three months to ensure he complies with a ban from the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead.

He was also ordered to undertake 40 hours of unpaid work and to pay a £26 victim surcharge.