Afghan migrant convicted of trying to murder his landlord

A ‘psychotic’ Afghan lorry migrant who was turned away from hospital two days before he stabbed a dog walker to death has been convicted of trying to murder his landlord in the rampage.

Mr Broadhurst, 49, died after he was knifed 14 times to the neck, chest, and side by Uber driver Dawood Safi, 28, in Midhurst Gardens, Uxbridge, west London.

Safi also attacked his landlord Shahzad Farrukh, 45, and a 14-year-old boy on 27 October last year, Southwark Crown Court heard.

Mr Farrukh could have died but several neighbours, including one wielding a walking stick, rushed out to help him.

He was left with ‘life-changing injuries’ in the bloodbath while the boy, who cannot be named, was hospitalised with hand injuries after the ‘big butcher’s knife’ was waved just two inches from his head.

Safi later told psychiatrists he felt ‘guilty’ and ‘feared the judgement of God’ because he had ‘viewed naked images of women’.

He admitted the manslaughter of Mr Broadhurst on grounds of diminished responsibility.

The prosecution accepted his plea but Safi stood trial for attempting to murder Mr Farrukh and the teenage boy.

Bearded and bald-headed Safi appeared in court via video-link from Broadmoor maximum security psychiatric hospital aided by an Arabic interpreter.

Safi denied but was convicted by the jury of attempting to murder Mr Farrukh at Southwark Crown Court today (thurs).

He denies attempting to murder the boy and the jury is still deliberating on that charge.

Mrs Justice Cutts told the jury she will now accept a majority verdict of 10-to-two on the remaining count.

Safi earlier admitted wounding with intent causing grievous bodily harm to Mr Farrukh and assault occasioning
actual bodily harm to the boy.

The judge has said she will sentence on Safi on 5 October after psychiatric reports are prepared.

He is likely to be detained under section 37 of the Mental Health Act, twinned with an indefinite order under restriction 41, meaning he cannot be released without the approval of the Justice Secretary.

Earlier Jonathan Laidlaw, KC, prosecuting said Safi had ‘suffered a collapse in his mental health’ in the days leading up to the attacks.

‘The defendant, according to four psychiatrists who have examined him since October of last year, was in a psychotic state.

‘In other words, he had lost contact with reality and was unable to distinguish between what was real and what was not.

‘Because of the defendant’s psychotic state, he is not being tried for murdering the man who lost his life at the defendant’s hand.

‘It does not mean he was incapable of forming the intention to kill.

‘He is not insane, as the law defines that word, meaning he did not know the nature or quality of his acts, or that he was doing wrong.

‘The evidence plainly shows it was his intention to kill, both when he attacked Mr Farrukh and [the boy], and unfortunately Wayne Broadhurst, who lost his life just a few minutes later.

Jurors heard Safi shouted: ‘What have you done with my family?’ when he stabbed his landlord and civilian police worker Mr Farrukh.

The boy, who witnessed the attack, ‘punched at the defendant to the top of his head, with the result that the defendant slashed or stabbed at the boy, swinging the knife two or three inches above [his] head.’

When the knife fell out of the assailant’s hand, Mr Farrukh asked: ‘Why you stab me?’ to which Safi replied: ‘You didn’t guide me as a police [sic]’, shouting: ‘You’ve ruined my life’ and ‘You didn’t go to the police station with me.’

Mr Laidlaw told jurors: ‘[The boy] can be heard on the recording of the 999 call he had made, trying to find out why the defendant was attacking them, askig the defendant if it was money that he wanted.

‘There was no obvious or rational reason for the attack.’

One witness described Safi as looking ‘like he was possessed’ when he pursued the pair as they escaped next door.

The prosecutor said it was Mr Broadhurst’s ‘terrible fortune’ to have appeared just as Safi was outside the house in Midhurst Gardens.

He suffered a ‘sustained, ferocious, and unsurvivable’ attack, jurors heard.

‘For no apparent reason, rational or otherwise, he was stabbed to death by this defendant in a frenzied, random and entirely unprovoked assault.’

Mr Broadhurst, a street cleaner for Hillingdon Council and a Liverpool fan, died ‘almost instantly’ at the scene, with his dog Harry by his side.

Mr Laidlaw told jurors: ‘The prosecution argue that the defendant had a murderous intent.

‘He was not insane, which would mean he would be incapable of forming an intention… and a psychotic intention to kill is, nonetheless, an intention to kill, and sufficient for a conviction for attempted murder.’

Safi had complained of erectile issues and believed someone was putting something in his food at his GP surgery two days before the rampage.

Later that day he went to Hillingdon Hospital: ‘He said his uncles and cousins were the reason his private parts were not working. He repeatedly spoke about conspiracies and seemed fixated.’

Medics concluded Safi did not need to be detained for treatment under the Mental Health Act as he ‘appeared much calmer’, jurors heard.

Mr Laidlaw said he was still ‘low in mood and anxious’ and was accusing Uber colleagues of conspiring against him in a WhatsApp chat to cause his erectile dysfunction.

Safi was ‘distressed and upset’ when he attended Hayes police station the next day, the court heard.

He told officers he felt uncomfortable at home because of ‘links’ between his landlord and his cousins, the court heard.

The next day, Thames Valley Police officers found him parked on the hard shoulder between Junction 1 and 2 of the M40 in a Toyota Prius with the hazard lights flashing.

Mr Laidlaw said: ‘The defendant appeared anxious and complained of being defrauded of money by his relatives.’

In footage played in court Safi can be heard saying “There’s a case on me. People use me for money. I’m vulnerable”.’

Safi also called an ambulance to ask for tablets 15-minutes before launching his attack, but Mr Laidlaw said a response was ‘not deemed necessary’.

Speaking to psychiatrists after the killing, Safi agreed he had taken up the knife against Mr Farrukh, but did not know why or how many times he used it.

He claimed not to remember killing Mr Broadhurst though did feel ‘very guilty’.

He also spoke of being ‘punished by God’ for watching porn; claimed his cousins had given him mouth cancer and drugged him so his genitals and legs were not working; and said he went to hospital and the police station to get the buzzing in his ears checked.

Safi was later transferred to high-security psychiatric hospital Broadmoor after a suicide attempt, where he spoke about owing large sums of money since 2024.

He accused Mr Farrukh of having videos of him watching porn, and appeared ‘overcome with guilt’ for his internet habits, jurors heard.

When King’s College Hospital consultant forensic psychiatrist Professor Nigel Blackwood assessed Safi, he concluded ‘his immigration status and relative social isolation’ were ‘risk factors’ in his psychosis.

In his closing speech, Mr Laidlaw said ‘intention to kill’ was the ‘essential question’ in the case and that the main reason jurors could be sure of this was because of what Safi did to Mr Broadhurst.

He said: ‘The level of the defendant’s violence. The post-mortem… the number of blows speaks volume as to what was in the defendant’s mind.

‘That took place just after the assault of Mr Farrukh and the boy. He struck his neck, near the jugular, and the upper part of the body, the vital organs and lungs.

‘This defendant had a murderous intent. A psychotic intention to kill is nonetheless an intention to kill and safely for a conviction for attempted murder.’

CCTV footage played to the jury showed Mr Broadhurst leaving his home with his dog a few minutes before he was stabbed, then being pinned to the ground with Safi stabbing him.

Mr Broadhurst died from ‘shock and haemorrhage, and multiple stab wounds’ after a ‘ferocious attack’.

Safi had arrived ‘concealed in a lorry’ as a refugee in 2020, and was working as a taxi driver after being granted asylum in the UK in 2022 with leave to remain until 2027.

In the days leading up to the attacks Safi had suffered a collapse in his mental health.

Four psychiatrists who examined Safi since last October agreed he was in a psychotic state, jurors heard.

Safi claims to have witnessed the death of his father in Afghanistan and had ‘great difficulty’ being granted leave to remain in the UK.

Safi admitted the manslaughter of Mr Broadhurst on the basis of diminished responsibility, wounding with intent causing grievous bodily harm to Mr Farrukh and assault occasioning actual bodily harm to the boy.

He denied two counts of attempted murder.

ends