Rampaging West London Uber driver stabbed his landlord in neck while 'hearing voices'https://www.mylondon.news/news/west-lon ... r-34303088An Uber driver who stabbed to death a dog walker in a random “vicious and ferocious” attack in Uxbridge while gripped by psychosis has been found guilty of also trying to murder his landlord. Dawood Safi, 28, fatally stabbed Wayne Broadhurst, 49, during a knife rampage at his home in Midhurst Gardens 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. Southwark Crown Court heard Mr Farrukh, 45, was stabbed in the neck, and he and the injured teenager managed to get away as neighbours and passing members of the public attempted to stop Safi.
Prosecutor Jonathan Laidlaw KC said Mr Broadhurst had the “terrible misfortune” of walking by with his dog Harry while Safi was on the rampage, and he was attacked for no apparent reason.
Safi, an Afghan refugee, pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of Mr Broadhurst on the grounds of diminished responsibility, and he also admitted grievous bodily harm with intent on Mr Farrukh and actual bodily harm against the teenage boy. On Thursday, a jury found Safi guilty of attempting to murder Mr Farrukh. They continue to deliberate on the charge of attempting to murder the teenage boy.
Safi has appeared for his trial by video-link from Broadmoor secure hospital. The court heard Safi lied about his age, claiming to be 17, when he arrived in the UK on the back of a lorry in 2020, and he was subsequently granted asylum in 2022.
He told a psychiatrist he had witnessed his father being murdered in a land dispute in Afghanistan when he was 10, and prosecutor Jonathan Laidlaw KC said 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. In the three days before the stabbings, which happened on October 27 2025, 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 spilled 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”.
The court was told Mr Broadhurst’s family had wanted Safi to be convicted of murder, but prosecutors accepted his guilty plea to the lesser charge of manslaughter after receiving evidence about the state of his mental health.
He pleaded guilty to manslaughter, causing actual bodily harm, wounding with intent to commit grievous bodily harm and possession of an offensive weapon, and has been found guilty of attempted murder.
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