Teenager gets 43-month sentence for brick attack on rabbi

A teenager who viciously attacked a Chigwell rabbi in May last year has been sentenced by Chelmsford Crown Court to 43 months in a youth offenders’ institution, after pleading guilty to grievous bodily harm without intent, theft and aggravated criminal damage.

Souraka Djabouri, 19, admitted hitting Rabbi Rafi Goodwin over the head with a brick, in an assault after the rabbi stopped suddenly while driving, in order to avoid hitting a pedestrian who had walked out into the road from behind a parked van.

Djabouri, of Tudor Crescent, Ilford, first verbally abused the rabbi, invoking the fact that he was Jewish. Rabbi Goodwin drove off, but when he stopped at a junction, he found that Djabouri had followed him and had begun kicking at his car, damaging the wing mirror and the door.

The rabbi got out of the car to take pictures of Djabouri and another man who he believed were responsible for the damage. But he was assaulted with a brick and his phone was stolen. He needed urgent medical care as the assault necessitated stitches and resulted in serious swelling to his face and eye.

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