A man from Wembley who beat up a woman in a Soho street so badly that witnesses thought he had killed her has been jailed for seven years.

Brent & Kilburn Times: Nahakul Thapa was jailed for four yearsNahakul Thapa was jailed for four years (Image: Archant)

Diprash Shakya, of Windsor Crescent, left his victim with serious head injuries following a row which ignited after claims that a man had stolen an item from his friend’s bag.

Blackfriars Crown Court heard the 23-year-old was in a group of men and women from the Nepalese community who had enjoyed a meal at a restaurant in Old Compton Street, in December 2013.

Outside the eatery, a woman in the group said a man had put his hand in her bag and she felt that something had been taken out.

The man ran off and several males from the group ran after him knocked him to the ground and kicked and punched him.

Brent & Kilburn Times: Rabrina Giri was jailed for five yearsRabrina Giri was jailed for five years (Image: Archant)

He was saved by an off-duty policeman who intervened and gave him first aid.

At the same time a woman was assaulted by a member of the group and was so ferociously attacked witnesses thought that she had been left for dead.

Hearing her screams the off-duty police officer gave chase and apprehended a male member of the group nearby.

Two other men Nahakul Thapa, 19, from Colindale and 25-year-old Rabrindra Giri, from Charlton, south east London, were detained by the public, security staff and the police.

The man who was attacked by the group has never been traced.

Shakya was convicted of attempt to wound with intent to do grievous bodily harm on a female and jailed for seven years.

Thapa and Giri, were both convicted of wound with intent to do grievous bodily harm on a male

and jailed for four and five years respectively.

Det Con Steph Barron, from Camden Police, said: “The attack on the woman was a vicious unprovoked assault which left her very traumatised and will take her a long time to fully recover. The physical damage may have repaired but the mental scars remain.

“I am happy that her assailant has been given a substantial prison sentence and also that others of the same group have also been incarcerated for an unjustified attack on the male victim.”