A jury at Southwark Crown Court has found Dawood Safi, 28, guilty of attempting to murder his landlord Shahzad Farrukh, 45, shortly before he embarked on a deadly knife rampage that killed Wayne Broadhurst, 49. The attack occurred in Uxbridge on October 27 last year, when Safi, suffering a psychotic episode, stabbed Mr Broadhurst 14 times in a frenzied assault.
Attack on landlord and teenager
Minutes before killing Mr Broadhurst, Safi attacked his landlord, Shahzad Farrukh, and a 14-year-old boy with a large kitchen knife. Mr Farrukh was stabbed in the neck but managed to escape with the injured teenager as neighbours intervened. The court heard that Safi had moved into Mr Farrukh’s annex flat in Midhurst Gardens in August 2025.
Prosecutor Jonathan Laidlaw KC stated that Safi launched an “unannounced attack” on Mr Farrukh, who was unarmed and caught completely unaware. Safi made comments suggesting he was angry at Mr Farrukh for not accompanying him to the police station earlier that day.
Fatal encounter with dog walker
Wayne Broadhurst, a street sweeper for Ealing Council and a Liverpool FC fan, had the “terrible misfortune” of walking past with his dog Harry while Safi was on the rampage. Mr Laidlaw described the attack as “vicious and ferocious,” adding that Mr Broadhurst was stabbed to death in a “frenzied, random and entirely unprovoked attack.” Witness Daniella Jarvis told police Safi looked “like he was possessed.”
Safi had already admitted the manslaughter of Mr Broadhurst on grounds of diminished responsibility. The jury is still considering a charge of attempting to murder the teenage boy.
Mental health background
The court heard that Safi arrived in the UK on the back of a lorry in 2020, lying about his age and claiming to be 17. He was granted asylum in 2022. Safi told a psychiatrist he witnessed his father being murdered in a land dispute in Afghanistan when he was 10. Mr Laidlaw said that at the time of the stabbings, Safi had suffered a “collapse in his mental health,” hearing voices and consumed by paranoia and delusional beliefs that people were controlling and plotting against him.
In the three days before the attack, Safi had attended a GP appointment, had a mental health assessment at Hillingdon Hospital, and sought help at Hayes Police Station. He appeared in court via video-link from Broadmoor secure hospital.
Safi pleaded guilty to manslaughter, causing actual bodily harm, wounding with intent to commit grievous bodily harm, and possession of an offensive weapon. He has now been found guilty of attempted murder. The Broadhurst family had wanted a murder conviction, but prosecutors accepted the manslaughter plea based on evidence of his mental state.
