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Moment accused murderer flees on foot after 'stabbing' aspiring Royal Marine

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Moment accused murderer flees on foot after
Moment accused murderer flees on foot after 'stabbing' aspiring Royal Marine

CCTV footage released today shows the moment alleged murderer Lawangeen Abdulrahimzai fled on foot and was chased by James Medway.

The Afghan asylum seeker, 21, can be seen on video running away from the busy spot in Bournemouth town centre where he stabbed Tom Roberts, also 21.

Abdulrahimzai, running 'very fast' with his hood up, sprinted to a nearby park.

A barefoot Mr Medway, whose trainers came off, ran after the asylum seeker but the 24-year-old lost Abdulrahimzai in the park.

Today jurors heard 999 calls made moments after the alleged murder at around 4.40am on March 12 2022 outside a Subway.

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Moment accused murderer flees on foot after 'stabbing' aspiring Royal MarineAbdulrahimzai is running 'very fast' in the clip (Solent News & Photo Agency)

One woman who was taking cash out of an ATM when she saw Abdulrahimzai told 999 operators 'he was running very fast'.

Others urged 999 call handlers to send an ambulance immediately as Mr Roberts was losing a lot of blood and 'is going to die'.

It was also heard that before the stabbing, Abdulrahimzai - wearing a balaclava - had headbutted another man.

Reveller Alfie Goulty told Salisbury Crown Court he had been denied entry to a club in Bournemouth and got chatting to Abdulrahimzai, who he didn't know.

Mr Goulty, 18, was having a verbal disagreement with another reveller when Abdulrahimzai joined the conversation and became 'aggressive' towards the other male.

Moment accused murderer flees on foot after 'stabbing' aspiring Royal MarineThomas Roberts was stabbed twice outside a Subway sandwich shop in Bournemouth (Max Willcock/BNPS)

He said: "The person that joined was wearing a coat and balaclava, which was not fully on.

"He was just repeating my words, he was telling him to go away... He used his head on him, he used it to nudge him away, it was like a headbutt.

"It was fairly aggressive."

Mr Goulty said he carried on speaking to Abdulrahimzai after the verbal disagreement with the other man ended, and that Abdulrahimzai told him he was 16.

Later, he came out of Subway and saw Mr Roberts 'bleeding a lot' and people shouting for an ambulance.

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Moment accused murderer flees on foot after 'stabbing' aspiring Royal MarineAbdulrahimzai was captured on CCTV with his hood up and sprinted to a nearby park (Solent News & Photo Agency)

Dorset Police officer Steve Bowes, one of the first on the scene, said he performed CPR on Mr Roberts, adding: "His condition was deteriorating, it was clear that he was not breathing."

The friend of the aspiring Royal Marine told the court of the 'scary' moment his pal was stabbed to death in the argument over an E-scooter.

James Medway told jurors he 's**t himself' when the Afghan pulled a 10cm blade and twice plunged it into his friend's chest.

Mr Medway said: "I had known him for two and a half years, over the years we got to know each other well.

"We had many things in common, like riding, then I started coming to his DJ events and he took an interest in the gym.

"It was a nice, chilled evening... We were having a good time, enjoying a few drinks.

"We decided to get some food, grab a taxi, and go home. We were relaxed, ready for food and bed.

Moment accused murderer flees on foot after 'stabbing' aspiring Royal MarineMr Roberts had been enjoying a "very chilled" night out with his friend before he was attacked (Max Willcock/BNPS)

"We decided to walk towards the taxi rank and at Subway there was a scooter that was unlocked and told him 'don't worry mate, we can take this time, we don't need a taxi'.

"At this point I was confronted. "I held the grips and stood either side of the scooter and that's when he [Abdulrahimzai] approached. I had never seen him before.

"He was speaking broken English and was not easy to understand.

"He came from in front of me and said 'get off this scooter, this is my scooter' and he was acting aggressively. He was threatening.

"Tom reached across his chest and said 'there's not a problem here'. He was soothing, trying to calm the situation, he was trying to diffuse the situation.

"The man switched his focus to Tom and got in his face. He squared up to Tom. I don't know what was said as it was broken English.

"Tom felt threatened. He was on the back foot. He [Mr Roberts] open palm slapped him [Abdulrahimzai] on his face which I felt was a warning, it was a 'stay away' warning.

"The man reached for the knife and just lunged for Tom. It was big and I'm pretty sure it was gold and black. He made like a long hook motion.

"I s**t myself to start with, I was scared I'm not sure if I had gone to punch him with my left hand. The man then ran.

"I punched Tom on the shoulder and said 'are you good?' as I didn't realise he had been hit and then chased after the man."

Abdulrahimzai denies murder.

The trial continues.

Sam Elliott-Gibbs

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