I'll never know why thugs beat me into a coma

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WHEN Shane Symington came face-to-face with the two men who savagely beat him up, he had just one question: Why did you attack me?

But even after seeing Kevah Bahrami-Jovein and Paul Heppenstall jailed, the 33-year-old victim is still no closer to an answer.

The police say he was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time but he can remember nothing of the attack.

Mr Symington said: 'I still want answers but I know I will never get them.

'I'm sure they know why they did it but they're not going to tell me.'

The last thing he recalls is leaving his parents Sharon and Ken's home in Bedhampton on his bicycle.

He said: 'The next thing I remember is waking up in hospital three days later.

'I took the day off work to come to court because I wanted to see what they looked like.

'They are cowards. They couldn't even look me in the eye.'

Mr Symington, a postman, was heading home to Stowe Road, Milton, when he was attacked in Eastern Parade, Portsmouth last October.

Witnesses saw him lying on the ground helpless as the men stamped on his head and body.

Mr Symington, who was beaten unconscious and suffered a fractured cheek bone and a broken nose, was taken to Queen Alexandra Hospital and kept in the intensive care unit.

His attackers were arrested near the scene after they had soaked their shoes and trousers in water in a bid to wash off his blood, Portsmouth Crown Court heard.

Prosecutor Martyn Booth said: 'Mr Symington has done nothing, nothing at all. That is perhaps the most chilling part of this case.

'This was an entirely unprovoked attack for no other reason than the fact that Mr Symington happened to be there at a time when both these defendants were after violence.' Bahrami-Jovein, 19, of Cakeham Road, Chichester, was jailed for six years after pleading guilty to assault causing grievous bodily harm with intent.

Heppenstall, 28, of Westlands Road, Chichester, received five years for admitting the same offence.

Pierce Power, defending, said: 'They cannot understand or explain why they did what they did.'

The court heard both men had previous convictions for more than 20 offences each, including assaults and robbery.

Judge Campbell Boothman said: 'I have to sentence you both for a serious and vicious attack that occurred without any provocation and that resulted in serious injury.'