A MAN who knocked a pedestrian unconscious in a street fight has been cleared of assault after he told a jury he was acting in self-defence.

Akim Fakih told Exeter Crown Court he thought he was about to be stabbed and struck a single blow because he believed the other man was reaching for a knife.

He had a drinks can in his hand when he punched Leigh Tobin in the face during a confrontation on Highweek Street, Newton Abbot on the night of July 21.2020.

The blow caused Mr Tobin to fall backwards and fracture his skull on the pavement, leading to a bleed on the brain that was diagnosed when he went to hospital three days later.

Fakih was cleared after telling the jury that 33-year-old Mr Tobin stopped him and demanded he repay a £80 debt for cocaine which had been supplied to a friend.

He tried to explain that he had nothing to do with the debt and then lashed out because Mr Tobin threatened to stab him. He said he took it seriously because he knew of another incident in which he had carried a knife.

He claimed Mr Tobin was a drug dealer who had abused him racially in the past. He described him as ‘a leech on society’.

Fakih, aged 36, of Highweek, Newton Abbot denied causing grievous bodily harm and was found not guilty.

During the case, Mr Herc Ashworth, prosecuting, said the confrontation happened on the corner of Highweek Street and Halcyon Street and was filmed in part by cameras on the Swan pub and another building overlooking the junction.

The two men met by chance when Fakih was walking towards the centre of Newton Abbot and Mr Tobin was walking the other way at 9.30 pm.

Fakih was wearing shorts and a blue Armani t-shirt and carrying a drinks can while 32-year-old Mr Tobin was wearing a baseball cap over his shaven head. There was an ‘agitated exchange’ between them.

Mr Ashworth said the footage showed that Mr Tobin had backed away from Fakih and posed no threat at the time he was hit. He left him unconscious on the ground.

Mr Tobin went home rather than to hospital on the evening of the attack but his condition deteriorated and he was admitted to Torbay Hospital.

Doctors diagnosed a fracture on the right side of the back of his skull and two bleeds on his brain on the left side and he was treated for more than a week before being discharged.

Fakih said he was present by chance when a friend bought £80 from Mr Tobin some months before but he was not involved with the deal.

He said Mr Tobin seemed to think he was responsible for repaying the money and had racially abused him while demanding it in an earlier incident.

He said that when they met in the street on July 21, Mr Tobin demanded the money again and became aggressive.

Fakih said: ‘He told me I had been taking the **** out of him for far too long and he was going to knife me. He told me to watch my back. I asked if it was a threat and he replied “it’s a promise, lad”.’

He told the jury that he did not see a knife but hit Mr Tobin because he feared he had one in his pocket.