Afghan Migrant Stabbed 'Peacemaker' During Dispute Over E-Scooter

An Afghan asylum seeker fatally stabbed a man while attempting to end a dispute over an e-scooter, a UK court has heard.

Thomas Roberts, 21, was stabbed twice outside a sandwich shop in the English town of Bournemouth, London on Mar. 12 last year.

Lawangeen Abdulrahimzai, a 21-year-old Afghan immigrant who was caught on camera fleeing the scene, is currently on trial at Salisbury Crown Court for Roberts' murder.

The prosecutor, Nic Lobbenberg KC told the court that Roberts and his friend, James Medway, had been having a 'very chilled' night out at the Dorset seaside resort's For Your Eyes Only strip club prior to the incident.

Lobbenberg claimed that when Roberts arrived, Abdulrahimzai and Medway were engaged in a dispute over a rented Beryl e-scooter.

"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," Lobbenberg said.

The first stab wound penetrated the victim's heart and the second went into his abdomen.

After the stabbing, Abdulrahimzai ran away. Medway pursued him, but he disappeared into some adjacent woods.

After the defendant dropped his cell phone, authorities tracked it to his house and found it there, the prosecutor said.

Lobbenberg predicted that the defendant would argue that his acts were the result of a 'loss of control' and that he had not planned to kill Roberts.

Roberts, who was an aspiring Royal Marine, was pronounced dead at the hospital at 8:10 a.m. the following morning.

Abdulrahimzai, the accused, has continuously denied murder even though he had already acknowledged to manslaughter. According to testimony given in court, Abdulrahimzai did not deny stabbing the victim with a knife he had brought from home.

Abdulrahimzai, who was born in Afghanistan, arrived in the UK in late 2019. Although he stated that he was 16 when he was detained, the court later determined that he was actually 21.

The trial is still ongoing as the defendant, who was a resident of Poole at the time of the occurrence, denies murder. According to the prosecutor, the jury may have to determine if the defendant intended to cause substantial harm and whether he lost control in addition to taking psychiatric conditions into account.