Afghan man pleads guilty to ‘frenzied’ killing of dog walker in west London

On Monday at Southwark Crown Court on the opening day of his trial, Safi pleaded guilty to manslaughter of Mr Broadhurst, via “diminished responsibility” because of his psychotic state.

At a previous hearing he also admitted lesser charges of grievous bodily harm with intent relating to Mr Farrukh and actual bodily harm in relation to the boy.

Safi will still stand trial for the attempted murder of Mr Farrukh and the 14-year-old while his manslaughter pleas were “accepted” by the prosecution.

Jonathan Laidlaw KC, prosecuting, said that in light of reports from four separate medical experts who said Safi was experiencing “an abnormality of mental functioning” at the time of the attacks, they will not pursue the murder charge.”

“He was in a psychotic state, in other words he had lost contact with reality and he was unable to distinguish what was real and what was not,” said Mr Laidlaw.

He added that the experts found that the “random, nonsensical and frenzied nature” of the killing supported Safi being “acutely unwell”.

Mr Laidlaw also acknowledged to the court that Mr Broadhurst’s family wanted to see Safi found guilty of murder.

Safi, who lived with Mr Farrukh as his lodger at an address in Midhurst Gardens, was found armed with a large knife in the annex of the property on October 27.

Mr Broadhurst, who was not known to Safi, was then attacked as he happened to be walking past with his dog, an earlier hearing was told.

He died at the scene after suffering multiple stab wounds including to his neck, chest and side.

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Safi also pleaded guilty to one count of possessing an offensive weapon and will face trial for the two counts of attempted murder on Monday afternoon.

He entered the UK in a lorry in 2020 before claiming asylum, which was granted in 2022, the Home Office previously confirmed.