Tom Roberts murder trial: Friend gives account of stabbing

Lawangeen Abdulrahimzai is on trial at Salisbury Crown Court, charged with the murder of 21-year-old Tom Roberts in Old Christchurch Road in the early hours of March 12 last year.

The court heard Mr Roberts had been on a night out with James Medway.

The two friends were walking up towards the taxi ranks when Mr Medway saw an unlocked Beryl e-scooter outside Subway.

Giving evidence in court on Tuesday, January 10, Mr Medway said there was no-one on the e-scooter and no-one near it.

He told that court that he said to Mr Roberts they could use the e-scooter to get home.

• Read more: ‘Peacemaker’ killed while trying to break up fight over e-scooter, court told

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"I grabbed the handles, stepped either side and at that point we were approached,” Mr Medway said.

Mr Medway said he did not know the man – the defendant – who had approached him.

He said: "He came in front of me and said along the lines of 'get off this scooter, this is my scooter'.”

Mr Medway described the defendant as being “aggressive and threatening” at this point.

Mr Roberts got between Mr Medway and Abdulrahimzai and put his arm out across them.

The witness said he believed his friend was trying to “defuse the situation”.

Mr Medway told the jury he did not believe Mr Roberts was being aggressive, going on to say that the defendant became “threatening” to his friend.

Mr Roberts then slapped Abdulrahimzai in the face, the jury was told.

"Tom open palm slapped him which I felt was a warning to stay away because he felt threatened,” Mr Medway said.

Asked what happened next, Mr Medway said: "He (Abdulrahimzai) reached straight for the knife on his right side and just lunged for Tom."

Mr Medway, who was 24 at the time of the incident, said he only saw one initial strike but Mr Roberts was stabbed twice.

Tom Roberts (Image: Bomo Bunker)

After asking Mr Roberts if he was okay, Mr Medway ran after Abdulrahimzai barefoot as his shoes were not done up properly. He lost track of him in Horseshoe Common.

Being cross examined by Jo Martin KC, who represents the defendant, Mr Medway said it was not in his nature to be aggressive, however, he later accepted that how he grabbed the e-scooter could be seen as being aggressive.

Ms Martin KC suggested to Mr Medway that Mr Roberts punched the defendant. Mr Medway denied this and insisted it was an “open palm slap”.

Prosecutor Nic Lobbenberg KC asked Mr Medway who was the aggressor. The witness replied: “The defendant.”

Earlier in the opening of the prosecution’s case, Mr Lobbenberg KC said the knife used in the stabbing, which was never recovered, was more than 10 centimetres in length, according to a pathologist.

It had one cutting edge and one blunt edge, the jury was told.

The pathologist said there was nothing more medics could have done to save Mr Roberts, Mr Loddenberg said.

"What killed him were these stab wounds," he added.

The defendant, who is from Afghanistan and was of Hill Street, Poole, at the time of the incident, has admitted manslaughter but denies murder. The trial continues.

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