Psychotic migrant asked for ‘tablets’ minutes before killing spree

A ‘psychotic’ Afghan lorry migrant was turned away from hospital just two days before he stabbed binman Wayne Broadhurst to death, a court heard.

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.

Safo 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 has admitted the manslaughter of Mr Broadhurst on grounds of diminished responsibility.

The prosecution accepted his plea but Safi is on 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.

Reading agreed facts to jurors, prosecutor Jonathan Laidlaw, KC, said Safi 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.’

Safi did not give evidence and defence counsel Richard Jory, KC, did not call any witnesses or ask a single question in cross examination throughout the trial.

In his closing speech, Mr Jory said the facts were not in dispute but jurors still had to be sure Safi ‘intended to kill’ Mr Farrukh and the 14-year-old boy.

‘I’m going to suggest those are not easy questions to answer,’ he said.

‘Do not oversimplify: So he killed Mr Broadhurst so he intended to kill Mr Farrukh and the boy. That is a dangerous approach.

‘We suggest: you can be sure Mr Safi attacked both Mr Farrukh and the boy, that he did attack them deliberately, he did attack them with a knife, and with Mr Farrukh he did intend to cause really serious injuries.

‘But we say it’s a significant step from that to conclude, not only he intended to deliberately attack both those individuals, but he did intend to kill them.

‘He was psychotic at the time. It’s not a defence, it’s just the factual background. But there was an abnormality of mental function.

‘The law is intentionally strict. It’s an intentionally high bar. You must be sure he intended to kill Mr Farrukh and the boy. We say on the evidence that you can never be sure of that.’

CCTV footage played to the jury earlier 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’.

The court has heard Safi 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, jurors have heard.

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

He denies two counts of attempted murder.

In her legal directions, Mrs Justice Cutts told jurors the central issue in the trial is whether the defendant ‘intended to kill’ Mr Farrukh and the 14-year-old boy.

The trial continues.
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