An Afghan refugee has been sentenced to an indefinite hospital order following a knife rampage in London in which he killed a dog walker, attempted to murder his landlord and stabbed a teenager while gripped by psychosis.
Dawood Safi, 28, who worked as an Uber driver, fatally stabbed Wayne Broadhurst, 49, in a random “vicious and ferocious” attack at his home in Midhurst Gardens, Uxbridge, on October 27 last year.
Minutes before killing Mr Broadhurst, Safi had attacked his landlord, Thames Valley Police contractor Shahzad Farrukh, and a 14-year-old boy with a knife.
Safi pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of Mr Broadhurst on the grounds of diminished responsibility.
At Southwark Crown Court, he also admitted grievous bodily harm with intent on Mr Farrukh and actual bodily harm against the teenage boy.
In July, he was found guilty by a jury of attempting to murder Mr Farrukh.
During the trial, the court was told Safi lied about his age, claiming to be 17, when he arrived in the UK illegally on the back of a lorry in 2020.
He was subsequently granted asylum in 2022.
Dawood Safi was sentenced at Southwark Crown Court today
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SCOTLAND YARD
He told a psychiatrist he had witnessed his father being murdered in a land dispute in Afghanistan when he was 10.
Prosecutor Jonathan Laidlaw KC said during trial at the time of the Uxbridge stabbings Safi had suffered a “collapse in his mental health”.
Mr Laidlaw said: “The defendant was hearing voices; he’d become consumed by paranoia and delusional beliefs which included that people generally and members of his family in this country were both controlling him and plotting against him.”
He moved into Mr Farrukh’s annex flat in Midhurst Gardens at the start of August 2025.
Wayne Broadhurst died in the incident last year
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GB NEWS/SUPPLIEDIn the three days before the stabbings, Safi had attended an appointment at his GP, he had a mental health assessment at Hillingdon Hospital and he had sought help at Hayes police station.
Mr Laidlaw said Safi had believed Mr Farrukh might help him thanks to his role with the police.
At around 4.45pm on October 27, Mr Farrukh entered the kitchen of his home and saw Safi’s silhouette through the glass door leading to the annex.
Mr Farrukh opened the door and found himself a few feet from Safi, who was already armed with a large kitchen knife.
“He launched an unannounced attack on Mr Farrukh, who was unarmed and was caught completely unaware,” said Mr Laidlaw.
Safi made comments as he carried out the knife attack, suggesting he was angry at Mr Farrukh for not accompanying him to the police station earlier that day.
As the incident unfolded and spilt on to the street, neighbours heard shouts and went to investigate the disturbance.
One witness, Daniella Jarvis, told police Safi looked “like he was possessed”.
Mr Broadhurst, who worked as a street sweeper for Ealing Council and was a Liverpool FC fan, encountered the scene as he came through an alleyway on to Midhurst Gardens.
“For no apparent reason, rational or otherwise, he was stabbed to death in a frenzied, random and entirely unprovoked attack,” said Mr Laidlaw.
“Mr Broadhurst died in the street, with the dog by his side.”
He was stabbed 14 times in the head, neck, chest and back by Safi in an attack one witness described as a “butchering”.
Mr Broadhurst’s family had wanted Safi to be convicted of murder, but prosecutors accepted Safi’s guilty plea to the lesser charge of manslaughter after receiving evidence about the state of his mental health.
Sentencing, The Honourable Mrs Justice Cutts made a recommendation to the Home Office to deport Dawood Safi, telling court “I am satisfied your continued presence in the UK is to its detriment.”
The judge continued, “You set upon and killed him in a random and completely unprovoked attack. He did not threaten you, he was unarmed, simply going about his business of walking his dog. You killed an innocent man with intent to do so and you attempted to kill another.”
Judge Cutts said: “It is clear from all the psychiatric evidence I have seen that you were suffering from a psychotic state… hearing voices and being consumed by paranoia, and that members of your family were plotting against you. I accept that the killing of Mr Broadhurst was entirely attributable to your mental disorder.”
“You require extensive psychological therapy,” Judge Cutts added, explaining her reasoning for a hospital order.
A UK Government spokesperson said:”We are committed to doing everything possible to deport FNOs (foreign national offenders) and are clear they should have no place in this country. As previous governments have found, this necessarily involves the agreement of the receiving country, which has not always been possible in some countries. But we are currently working with colleagues across government to explore all possible options in this case.”
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