Tom Robert's mother calls out 'failures' of authorities

Tom Roberts, 21, was stabbed to death in Bournemouth town centre by a man who sought asylum in the country and lied about his age.

After his death it was revealed his killer, Lawangeen Abdulrahimzai, had previously been convicted of a double murder in Serbia and posed as a 14-year-old when seeking refuge in Poole.

At the time, Abdulrahimzai was actually 18 years old but was placed in a local secondary school.

In January 2023, he was jailed for 29 years for Tom’s murder and a coroner’s investigation was launched.

Dr Anton van Dellen, representing Tom’s mother, Dolores Roberts-Wallace, argued there were systematic failures that allowed Abdulrahimzai into the country.

However, after a number of hearings senior coroner for Dorset, Rachael Griffin, said she was satisfied the duties of the coroner had already been discharged and that the inquest would not resume.

(Image: FamilyHandout/BNPS)

Following the decision Ms Wallace-Roberts said: “Tommy meant a lot to me, he was my son and I do everything for my children. 

“He is greatly missed. 

“I am very disappointed by the coroner's decision not to resume the investigation into his death. 

“I have very serious concerns about how Border Force checks the identity of those arriving in England and whether they are criminals, how BCP Council checks the ages of those claiming to be children, the response of Dorset Police to a report of someone carrying a machete in a public place and the failure of the authorities to check and share information, which allows the status quo to continue.”

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Cllr Millie Earl, leader of BCP Council said: “Tom will never be forgotten by the people of Bournemouth.

"His family members continue to be in our thoughts, and they have our deepest sympathies during another difficult time."

She added that once immigration services deemed Abdulrahimza as under 18 years old, BCP Council fulfilled its duty of responsibility by taking him into care as an unaccompanied child asylum seeker.

“In this case, Lawangeen Abdulrahimza claimed he was a child upon arrival.

"Immigration services carry out an initial age enquiry at point of entry and once an individual claims they are, or is identified as, under 18 they must be treated as a child.

"To follow government guidance and to fulfil BCP Council’s duty of responsibility, Lawangeen Abdulrahimza was taken into care as an unaccompanied child asylum seeker in December 2019.

“Everyone living in our community should feel safe and we will do all we can to ensure that tragedies such as this do not happen again in the BCP area, or nationally.

"This is why we are working with the relevant Government departments and agencies to identify where improvements can be made throughout the national process of assessing and placing asylum seekers.”

A spokesperson for Dorset Police said: "First and foremost, our thoughts and condolences remain with the family and friends of Tommy Roberts following his tragic death."

They said the force fully co-operated with the inquest process and carried out an internal investigation after reports Abdulrahimzai was seen with a knife two days before Tom’s death.

"We co-operated fully with the inquest process and carried out an internal investigation by the Force’s Professional Standards Department into a report that was made on Thursday 10 March 2022 with information that a member of the public had seen a young person in possession of a knife.

"The young person was identified to be Lawangeen Abdulrahimzai and officers made enquiries at his address to try and locate him during the early hours of Friday 11 March 2022, but they were not able to make contact with him.

"The investigation found that there was no evidence that Dorset Police officers were aware of any direct intention or threat made by Lawangeen Abdulrahimzai to harm anyone and the level of risk he posed was not known.

"There was no misconduct identified for any officers or staff.

"We remain committed to learning from tragic incidents such as this and identified opportunities for improving our response in incidents such as this.

"Youth violence and knife crime is a priority for Dorset Police and extensive work is ongoing to reduce the presence of dangerous weapons on our streets."

A Home Office spokesperson said: "Our deepest sympathies remain with the loved ones of Thomas Roberts.

“We will consider the findings of the Coroner’s report, but it would not be appropriate to comment further in the interim."