Uber driver who killed dog walker is also found guilty of trying to murder his landlord

An Uber driver who stabbed a dog walker to death in a “frenzy of violence” while in the grip of a psychotic episode has also been found guilty of trying to murder his landlord.

Dawood Safi, 28, killed 49-year-old Wayne Broadhurst in the random knife attack last October, just minutes after attacking his landlord, Shahzad Farrukh, and a boy of 14.

Despite being stabbed in the neck Farrukh and the teenager managed to get away while their neighbours in Uxbridge, west London, tried to stop Safi.

On the opening day of the trial this week at Southwark crown court in London, Safi pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of Broadhurst on the grounds of diminished responsibility due to his psychotic state. He also admitted grievous bodily harm with intent against Farrukh and actual bodily harm against the boy.

On Thursday, the jury said it had found Safi guilty of attempting to murder Farrukh and was continuing to deliberate on the attempted murder charge relating to the teenager.

Wayne Broadhurst, 49, was stabbed to death by Dawood Safi while walking his dog. Photograph: Metropolitan Police/PA

Safi, an Afghan refugee, arrived in the UK in a lorry in 2020 and was granted asylum in 2022. The court heard he had initially lied about his age when entering the UK and had told a psychiatrist he had witnessed the murder of his father at the hands of the Taliban in a land dispute in Afghanistan when he was 10.

However, Jonathan Laidlaw KC, prosecuting, told the court the story of Safi’s father’s death was “not true”, adding that four mental health experts had all concluded Safi had suffered a “complete mental collapse” at the time of the rampage.

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.”

The prosecution said Safi had believed Farrukh might be able to help him because of his role as a Thames Valley police contractor.

On the day of the attack, Farrukh entered the kitchen of his home and saw Safi’s silhouette through a glass door. On opening the door, Farrukh saw Safi holding a large kitchen knife.

“He launched an unannounced attack on Mr Farrukh, who was unarmed and was caught completely unaware,” Laidlaw told the court.

As the incident spilled on to the street, Safi came across Broadhurst, who was walking his dog, and stabbed him 14 times in the head, neck, chest and back.

This was a “frenzied, random and entirely unprovoked attack”, Laidlaw said.

The court was told Broadhurst’s family wanted Safi to be convicted of murder but prosecutors accepted his guilty plea to the lesser charge of manslaughter after evidence about his mental health.

The trial continues.