Bournemouth e-scooter row murderer given life sentence

Lawangeen Abdulrahimzai murdered two people in Serbia before arriving in the UK and claiming asylum, the court heard

A man who murdered a stranger in an argument over an e-scooter has been jailed for a minimum of 29 years.

Afghan asylum seeker Lawangeen Abdulrahimzai stabbed Tom Roberts, 21, in Bournemouth in March 2022.

The government has said it will examine how the defendant was able to enter the UK falsely claiming to be a minor, a year after murdering two men in Serbia.

Passing a life sentence, Judge Peter Dugdale told the defendant he had acted with "unjustified extreme violence".

Tom Roberts was stabbed to death in an argument over an e-scooter

Salisbury Crown Court heard Mr Roberts, from Bournemouth, was stabbed twice when he slapped Abdulrahimzai while trying to act as "peacemaker" in a dispute over possession of an e-scooter in the early hours of 12 March.

He collapsed in front of onlookers in Old Christchurch Road while Abdulrahimzai, from Poole, fled the scene, dropping his mobile phone.

'People trafficking'

Following the killing police learned the defendant had entered the UK in December 2019, falsely telling officials he was 14 years old.

It later emerged he had fled Serbia after murdering two people there the previous year, firing 18 rounds from a Kalashnikov rifle at close range, the court heard.

Judge Dugdale said the shootings followed an argument "possibly in some way linked to the business of people trafficking".

Abdulrahimzai, who is thought to be aged about 21, told the court he fled Afghanistan as a child after the Taliban killed his parents and left him for dead.

He said the group had "people everywhere" and he feared Mr Roberts was one of the "people who are trying to kill me".

The court heard the defendant suffered from anxiety, flashbacks and borderline personality disorder as a result of his traumatic past.

The stabbing followed an argument over possession of an e-scooter which the defendant had been riding

Passing sentence, Judge Dugdale said the defendant's childhood trauma could not fully explain the "wholly unjustified extreme violence".

He said Mr Roberts was "clearly trying to defuse" the confrontation between his friend James Medway and Abdulrahimzai.

"Thomas did nothing wrong that night at all. He was simply very unlucky to be in the wrong place at the wrong time," the judge said.

Addressing the defendant, he added: "You started the conflict and throughout you were the threatening aggressor.

"In seconds you took the life of a thoroughly decent young man, a man with a great future who was loved by so many people."

Police cordoned off part of Old Christchurch Road and Horseshoe Common following the attack

Paying tribute, Mr Roberts' father Philip told the court his "popular, physically fit" son was hoping for a career in the Royal Marines.

The victim's mother Dolores Wallace said she would "always have this emptiness" while his stepfather Peter Wallace said the stabbing had left "a massive hole in our lives".

His partner Gemma Walker said her world had been "ripped away", adding: "I cannot look at photos without sobbing to the point where I cannot breathe."

CCTV of Lawangeen Abdulrahimzai on a bus on the afternoon before the murder

On Tuesday, Home Office minister Robert Jenrick said the government would investigate the "full circumstances surrounding the case".

He was responding to a question from Bournemouth East MP Tobias Ellwood, who told the House of Commons: "Abdulrahimzai had a criminal record for murder in Serbia, a criminal record for drugs in Italy and then threatened his foster carer here in the UK and bluffed his way into our asylum system posing as a minor."

The MP added there were "so many red flags missed that could have revealed what a threat to society this individual was".

In a statement, Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council said local communities "are not at risk from asylum seekers".

It said there were "lessons to be learned" over the "national process of assessing and placing asylum seekers", adding that it had followed "all relevant guidance, regulations and procedures throughout".