Man fatally stabbed while trying to break up fight over e-scooter, court told

A man was fatally stabbed by an asylum seeker while attempting to break up an argument over an e-scooter, a court has heard.

Thomas Roberts, 21, was stabbed twice outside a Subway sandwich shop in Bournemouth in the early hours of 12 March last year.

Afghan migrant Lawangeen Abdulrahimzai, 21, is on trial at Salisbury Crown Court, charged with Mr Roberts’ murder on Old Christchurch Road.

Nic Lobbenberg KC, prosecuting, told the court that Mr Roberts had been enjoying a “very chilled” night out with his friend, James Medway, at the For Your Eyes Only strip club in the Dorset seaside resort before the incident.

He said Abdulrahimzai and Mr Medway were involved in an argument over a hired Beryl e-scooter when Mr Roberts stepped in.

Mr Lobbenberg said: “There was an altercation with this defendant. Thomas Roberts was a peacemaker, he came between the two men. For his trouble, he received two stab wounds.”

The first stab wound penetrated Mr Robert’s heart and the second went into his abdomen, he added.

The jury heard that Abdulrahimzai did not deny carrying out the stabbing using a knife he had taken with him from home, and previously pleaded guilty to manslaughter.

Incident about ‘a scooter that cost this boy his life’

The jury was shown CCTV footage of the fatal incident which Mr Lobbenberg said “was all about a scooter, that cost this boy his life”.

Mr Lobbenberg said Abdulrahimzai, who had been seen wearing an Afghan flag around his shoulders earlier in the evening, had previously used the hired e-scooter before Mr Roberts and Mr Medway came across it outside the Subway shop.

He said: “James Medway says to Tom ‘We do not need to get a taxi home, we can scoot – it’s not being used, we can take it’, and gets on it.

“He is immediately confronted by the defendant. Tom comes between them and the defendant gets in Tom’s face and is very aggressive.

“The defendant is getting in Tom’s face, he (Tom) slaps the defendant in the face with an open palm.

“At that, the defendant draws a knife and stabs him twice.”

Defendant ‘fled’ scene after stabbing

Mr Lobbenberg said Abdulrahimzai “ran away” after the incident and was chased by Mr Medway.

He said Mr Roberts collapsed and was “bleeding profusely on the ground” before emergency services arrived.

He was taken to hospital and given emergency surgery and “died in the operating theatre of his wounds”, Mr Lobbenberg added.

Mr Lobbenberg said Abdulrahimzai had dropped his mobile phone and was traced to his home address by police who recovered it.

Abdulrahimzai, who was born in Afghanistan, arrived in the UK in December 2019 and initially told the authorities he was 16 when he was arrested, but the court has since determined that he is aged 21.

Abdulrahimzai denies murder.

The trial continues.

Read Entire Article