An asylum seeker who stabbed a young man to death in a row over an e-scooter has previously been convicted of murder in Serbia, it can be revealed.
Lawangeen Abdulrahimzai was found guilty of stabbing aspiring marine 21-year-old Thomas Roberts to death outside a Subway sandwich shop in Bournemouth.
The shocking incident took place following a row over a scooter last year after the young man tried to act as a "peacemaker" when Abdulrahimzai got into an argument with his friend James Medway.
But the refugee had previously been sentenced to 20 years in prison in his absence following a trial over two brutal killings in Serbia, a preliminary hearing for the UK court case heard.
He had also been convicted of drug-dealing in Italy and given a non-custodial sentence after pleading guilty, the court heard.
But the UK authorities had no idea about his violent past when he arrived on the country's shores, posing as a schoolboy, and Dorset Police were unaware as well even as they investigated his most recent murder.
During his time in the UK he scared his carer by carrying a knife and got filmed in a street brawl before in the early hours of March 12, last year, an altercation arose after Mr Medway had wanted to take the scooter that Abdulrahimzai had left propped against the window of a shop.
A confrontation took place, lasting only 24 seconds in which Mr Roberts tried to talk the figt down before Abdulrahimzai, wearing an Afghan flag around his neck and balaclava partially covering his face, pulled out a 10inch knife and plunged it twice into Mr Roberts' chest
The Afghan national then ran away to hide in nearby woodland, where he buried the knife and later burned some of the clothes he was wearing.
But as he fled he dropped his mobile phone and it was traced to his home address.
Abdulrahimzai had first arrived in the UK in 2019 and told authorities he was 14 then, when he was 18, and then again on his arrest he said he was just 16, but it was determined he was in fact 20.
Just over a year before he made it to England, he had savagely gunned down two of his countrymen in Serbia after a row about trafficking.
Soon after arriving in the country, he attended a school and the court heard he "punched someone".
The court also heard his parents had been killed and he had been tortured by the Taliban so he carried a knife for his own protection.
Speaking of the brutal Serbia murders, prosecutor Nic Lobbenberg KC said: "Between July 31 and August 1 in 2018, during the evening in in Dobrinci … near the motorway, he murdered two people also from Afghanistan. The name he was using was Huan Yasin.”
Mr Lobbenberg KC said Afghans were staying in a shed in the area when an argument broke out over trafficking.
“The defendant arrived and an argument broke about the business of transporting migrants.
“He was armed with an automatic assault rifle, two others had pistols… one of the group said ‘who is the smuggler?’ and then aimed their weapons at the victims.
“He shot 18 rounds of a 7.62 calibre Kalashnikov. It’s a military weapon with great firepower and rapid rate of fire. The range of the shooting was said to be relatively short, three to 10 metres.”
Mr Lobbenberg KC said the killer did not move position and fired six rounds into each victim, with some bullets hitting their heads.
“An enormous number found their target”, he said.
Abdulrahimzai, who fled Serbia, was later identified by a taxi driver who drove him away from the scene, it was heard.
The taxi driver said he was "sweating" and "showing signs of anxiety", with the court also hearing he got the weapon from "gypsies".
In November 2020 he was convicted of murder in his absence by a Serbian court, having been wanted in the country since the attacks.
He was understood to be 15 at the time of the killings, it was heard.
As they investigated Abdulrahimzai's brutal stabbing of Mr Roberts, Dorset Police had no idea about his past killings, the force admitted after the conviction.
A Dorset Police spokesman said: "Prior to his arrest for this offence, Dorset Police was not aware of any previous convictions related to Lawangeen Abdulrahimzai.
"Abdulrahimzai was not marked on any police intelligence systems within the UK as having convictions, nor was he marked as having convictions on the Police National Computer or Police National Database.
"As a result, no previous convictions would have been raised with any police force within the UK. As part of the investigation process Dorset Police will, where necessary, make enquiries to other agencies to obtain the relevant information, as we did in this this case.
"More routinely, any enquiries regarding convictions from outside of UK jurisdiction held by foreign nationals entering the UK are a matter for other agencies."
The force said Abdulrahimzai was never arrested by Dorset Police before this case but admitted they received a report alleging he was carrying a knife - just two days before he stabbed Mr Roberts to death.
The spokesman said: "Dorset Police received a report on Thursday March 10, 2022, from a third party with information alleging that the defendant in this case had been seen with a knife in a bag.
"Enquiries were carried out, but no arrests were made and no knife was recovered. At no stage had the report suggested the knife was being used in a threatening manner."
Police said they referred themselves to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) and that after an investigation "no misconduct was identified".
Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council (BCP) this afternoon insisted it had followed government guidance when placing Abdulrahimzai with a local foster carer after immigration services carried out an 'initial age enquiry'.
Judge Paul Dugdale said: "This [the Serbian murders] only became apparent to the UK authorities after the commission of this offence we have been dealing with in this trial."
He added: "It's a terrifying case with the use of an automatic firearm possibly linked to the business of trafficking."
Barrister Jo Martin KC, defending, added that it was only "brought to police attention" while they conducted international enquiries.
The court heard that Abdulrahimzai left Afghanistan in October 2015 and arrived in Serbia the same month.
Later in October 2015 - having given a number of different names and ages to authorities - he arrived in Norway, and in July 2016 he was in the city of Trieste, Italy, before returning to Serbia in June 2017.
In October 2018 he returned to Norway, and having been denied asylum, travelled to the UK from the French port of Cherbourg, arriving in Poole, Dorset, in December 2019.
Thomas Roberts' family paid tribute to the 21-year-old and gave a warning about carrying knives after leaving court.
In a statement released via police, they said: "The family of Thomas Roberts cannot describe the loss of their son, brother, partner, and friend in the tragic circumstances of his violent and unnecessary death.
"Thomas was loved by many people and continues to be loved in his absence. He was a bright young man with a sense humour. An active sportsman and loved his DJing in his spare time.
"He had a potentially fulfilling future to look forward to, whether that be in his profession of precision engineer or his potential in the military. Thomas was a normal kind person, who had enjoyed life.
"On the night of his tragic death, he was in town with friends having good time when he was suddenly involved in an incident involving a large knife that cost him his life.
"The family would like this to be a warning to everyone not to carry knives so other families do not suffer in the way we as a family are suffering now."
Mr Roberts was a popular nightclub DJ from Bournemouth and collapsed after the stabbing at 4:40am. He later died in hospital.
After a night out with Mr Medway, they had intended to take an E-scooter home rather than a taxi.
This led to the fatal confrontation with Abdulrahimzai.
Giving evidence, Mr Medway said his friend Mr Roberts was "trying to calm the situation" and that the Afghan "just lunged for Tom".
Mr Medway chased after Abdulrahimzai as other revellers on a night out quickly rushed to help dying Mr Roberts, who suffered 10cm deep wounds and multiple cardiac arrests.
An age determination hearing had to be held by the court in the run up to the trial due to Abdulrahimzai's claims. An examination of the defendant's teeth led the judge, Mrs Justice Cutts, to rule that he was actually 21 years old, assigning him the date of birth of October 7 2001.
The court heard that he had believed he was the younger age because that was what he had been told by an uncle while still in Afghanistan.
Abdulrahimzai told the trial that it was normal for people in Afghanistan to not know their dates of birth due to a lack of education, and his uncle had told him the incorrect date.
During the trial at Salisbury Crown Court the defendant admitted to having a "fascination with knives" and he was convicted of murder by majority after 12 hours of jury deliberations on Monday. He had previously admitted manslaughter.
In the months before the incident, Abdulrahimzai shared pictures of himself posing with a knife about 10in long on the social media app TikTok.
He had been seen carrying a knife by his foster parent, who had warned him not to, and had also been warned by police and social workers of the dangers of carrying a knife.
Abdulrahimzai told the court that he carried a knife because he was "fearing" for his life because there were people from Afghanistan who wanted to kill him, and he had also had death threats in Bournemouth.
The defendant said he posted photos of his knife on TikTok to get followers from "people out there liking knives".
Reports from UK health authorities and social workers said the asylum seeker "sometimes struggles to know if he is in the past or present, and is unable to imagine his future."
When he arrived in Poole, Dorset, in 2019 Abdulrahimzai felt "an anger he could not stop," and suffered "paranoid thoughts that people are out to get him."
Nicola Marchant-Jones, who fostered Abdulrahimzai from early 2020 to mid-2021 in Poole, told the court he was a 'Jekyll and Hyde' character who could go 'from zero to 100 almost instantly'.
She said the 'troubled' asylum seeker's default setting was to 'fight' and that he thought it was his 'right' to carry a knife, having been persuaded to after being beaten up in Bournemouth in Novemeber 2020.
Ms Marchant-Jones said he often got into trouble at school for fighting.
On a shopping trip to JD Sports to buy a new coat she caught the defendant with a knife - which he had taken from her kitchen - and took it from him.
He had made a sheath for the weapon, and kept it on his waist.
"At one point he said he was doing street fighting," she added. "He appeared to have lots of money. I didn't see any money but he was buying nice things. He said he got £100 for ten minutes fighting."
Giving evidence, Abdulrahimzai said he attacked Mr Roberts out of instinct. He had admitted manslaughter but denied murder.
He said: "I was too scared for my life, I was thinking they were the people who were trying to kill me. I just reacted, I stabbed him twice... I acted instinctively [and] I lost control.
"I'm sorry from the bottom of my heart, I wish I could change it."
Abdulrahimzai told the court his parents were killed when the Taliban planted bombs at his family home, as they suspected them of colluding with American forces.
Abdulrahimzai said he was then captured and tortured by the Taliban for up to three weeks before being dumped and left for dead on the side of a road.
The jury was shown photographs of scarring all over his body which he says was caused by the torture, during which he was beaten with the butts of rifles and injured with knives.
However, a passer-by rescued him, tended to his wounds and put him back in touch with his uncle, who arranged for him to leave Afghanistan.
He first went to Serbia through Pakistan and Iran in October 2015, before arriving in Norway later that month with a friend he considered to be like an adopted brother.
Abdulrahimzai then left Norway and spent some time in Italy and Serbia.
He applied for asylum in Norway, but when his application was refused in December 2019, he left out of fear of being deported back to Afghanistan and arrived in the UK in Poole, Dorset, in the same month.
Detective Chief Inspector Simon Huxter, of MCIT, said: “First and foremost our thoughts are with the family and loved ones of Thomas Roberts. Nothing will ever make up for their tragic loss and I would like to pay tribute to them for the dignified way they have conducted themselves throughout the investigation and court process. I also pay tribute to those that came to Tommy’s aid in the aftermath of the incident."
Abdulrahimzai will be sentenced for murder on Wednesday.
