A SERIES of "spectacular failures" led to an asylum seeker murdering a man in the street, according to Bournemouth West MP Conor Burns.

Mr Burns said there was an urgent need for a "comprehensive inquiry" after Lawangeen Abdulrahimzai's background as a convicted murderer in Europe came to light following his conviction for the murder of Tom Roberts in Bournemouth.

Bournemouth East MP Tobias Ellwood has asked for the Home Office to launch an investigation.

This week a jury at Salisbury Crown Court found Abdulrahimzai guilty by a majority of murdering Mr Roberts outside Subway in Old Christchurch Road on March 12 last year.

Dorset Police said they were not aware of Abdulrahimzai's crimes in Serbia, which took place in summer 2018, before enquiries were carried out into the killing of Mr Roberts.

Bournemouth Echo: Lawangeen AbdulrahimzaiLawangeen Abdulrahimzai (Image: Dorset Police)

Bournemouth West MP Mr Burns told the Daily Echo: “From the reports I have read it appears to me that there has been a series of spectacular failures by the agencies that we should trust to uncover this stuff.

“I think there is an urgent need for a comprehensive inquiry as to how this went so badly wrong and how it led directly to the murder of a young man on the streets of Bournemouth.”

Prosecutor Nic Lobbenberg KC told the court on Monday Abdulrahimzai fired 18 rounds from an assault rifle, killing two people in Dobrinci. He had been wanted in Serbia since the incident under the name Huan Yasin.

Judge Paul Dugdale described it as a "terrifying case" involving an automatic firearm "possibly linked to the business of human trafficking".

Read more on the murder trial in the following articles

Speaking in the House of Commons yesterday, Mr Ellwood said: "Abdulrahimzai had a criminal record for murder in Serbia, a criminal record for drugs in Italy and then threatened his foster carer here in the UK and bluffed his way into our asylum system posing as a minor.

“So many red flags missed that could have revealed what a threat to society this individual was. There are lessons to be learned. Please will the minister launch an investigation.”

Immigration minister Robert Jenrick said it was a "terrible case" and thoughts were with the family and friends of Mr Roberts.

“As you will know sentencing is yet to take place but we will be investigating the full circumstances surrounding the case so we can ensure we learn all of the lessons," Mr Jenrick said.

“One that we will certainly be taking forward is, as I said in answer to an earlier question, a more robust method for assessing the age of those coming into the country, taking advantage of modern scientific methods.”

Bournemouth Echo:

Abdulrahimzai arrived in the UK at the Port of Poole in December 2019 and told a Home Office official he was 14 years old.

No formal age assessment was carried out despite observations of a dentist and paediatrician that he could be older.

In the run up to the trial for the murder of Mr Roberts, a judge determined the defendant was now 21 years old.

The trial heard Abdulrahimzai was caught carrying a knife by the foster parent, who cared for him from January 2020 to August 2021.

He got into fights at the Bournemouth school where he was placed and posted a picture of himself on social media platform TikTok carrying a knife, the jury was told.

In relation to the fatal stabbing, the defendant got into an altercation with Mr Roberts’s friend over an e-scooter, before the complainant stepped in as the “peacemaker”.

The court heard Mr Roberts slapped the defendant “as a warning to stay away” before Abdulrahimzai pulled the knife from his waistband and committed the murder.

The offender ran off from the scene but dropped his phone in Horseshoe Common. He was traced to his address in Hill Street, Poole, and arrested the day after the killing.

Conservative backbench MP Mr Burns said: “My thoughts and sympathy are with the family and loved ones of the young man whose life was so cruelly snuffed out on the streets of Bournemouth by the person found guilty of his murder.

“Nothing can alleviate the grief the family will feel and pain of loss that will endure.

“This case has actually made me and others genuinely very angry. We have a very proud track record in this country of offering asylum to people who are genuinely in fear of their lives.

Bournemouth Echo: Conor Burns MPConor Burns MP (Image: NQ)

“This is somebody who had a violent criminal past that should have been found out through a rigorous and robust vetting process and didn’t.

“He then came and lived at the expense of the UK taxpayer and committed murder on the streets of the United Kingdom.

“I had a meeting on Monday with Robert Jenrick, the minister for immigration, to really highlight how unacceptable it is how long it is taking to process asylum applications.

“We have a number of hotels in Bournemouth which are full with people waiting for a decision on their asylum status. It is taking too long.

“Clearly the checking processes need to be significantly tightened up and we let down as a country that young man who was murdered because the individual who murdered him should never have been in the United Kingdom.”

Bournemouth Echo: Police cordon in Old Christchurch Road, Bournemouth, on March 12 last yearPolice cordon in Old Christchurch Road, Bournemouth, on March 12 last year (Image: Newsquest)

A Home Office spokesperson said: "Foreign National Offenders who exploit our system and commit crimes here in the UK will face the full force of the law, including deportation at the earliest opportunity for those eligible.

“The government is committed to stopping abuse of the immigration system, taking decisive action against those who try to play the system.”

Abdulrahimzai is due to be sentenced for the murder of Mr Roberts at Salisbury Crown Court on Wednesday, January 25.

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