A PEDESTRIAN suffered a fractured skull after allegedly being punched in the face by a passer-by in a heated argument.

Akim Fakih has gone on trial at Exeter Crown Court accused of felling Leigh Tobin with such force that he fell backwards onto the pavement and suffered a serious head injury.

He is alleged to have hit Mr Tobin while holding a metal drinks can in an incident which was partially filmed on CCTV near a pub in Newton Abbot.

The footage showed the two men apparently arguing before Fakih hit him. Fakih says he believed the other man had a knife and was acting in self-defence.

Fakih, aged 36, of Highweek, Newton Abbot, denies causing grievous bodily harm to 32-year-old Mr Tobin on July 21, 2020.

Mr Herc Ashworth, prosecuting, said he confrontation happened on the corner of Highweek Street and Halcyon Street and was caught in part by cameras on the Swan pub and a 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 Mt Tobin was wearing a baseball cap over his shaven head. There was an ‘agitated exchange’ between them.

Mr Ashworth played the jury a combination of the footage and said it showed that Mr Tobin had backed away from Fakih and posed no threat at the time he was hit.

He said Fakih picked up the metal drink can which fell from his hand during the attack and left Mr Tobin unconscious on the ground, where members of the public and police went to his aid.

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.

The trial continues