Police were told seven times that killer asylum seeker carried a knife
POLICE were warned up to seven times that a violent Afghan asylum seeker was carrying a knife before he went on to kill again on British soil, it has emerged.
The Home Office also failed to check the fingerprints of fugitive Lawangeen Abdulrahimzai on police databases when he entered the UK – because he falsely claimed to be a child.
Abdulrahimzai was on the run from murder charges in Serbia when he arrived in Britain and was later convicted in his absence of gunning down two people with a Kalashnikov assault rifle.
Despite warnings to UK police about Abdulrahimzai’s obsession with knives, he went on to fatally stab aspiring Royal Marine Tom Roberts in Bournemouth last year. A source who knew the killer said:
‘Spotted with a machete in his bag’
‘When I saw that someone had been murdered in town and an Afghan fella with a knife had been arrested, my thoughts turned immediately to Abdulrahimzai. I cannot believe the police never found anything on him.’
Members of the local cricket club where Abdulrahimzai once played said they alerted Dorset Police that he was carrying a machete two days before he murdered 21year- old Mr Roberts. The force said no weapon was found.
A former friend at the club, who asked not to be named, said Abdulrahimzai would sometimes arrive ‘smelling of weed and booze’ and was also spotted with a knife – much to the alarm of parents. He said: ‘He came to a training session on the Thursday before the murder with a machete in his bag. We were horrified. He was immediately banned.’
He said club officials told his foster mother, who said she had also told police ‘six times before’ that she suspected he had a knife.
Sources confirmed Abdulrahimzai was fingerprinted when he arrived in the UK in December 2019, telling officials he was 14.
Crucially, his records were not run through international police and asylum computer systems because, at the time, he was being treated as a minor. He was later estimated to be up to six years older than he claimed.
In 2020, fingerprint comparisons revealed his previous rejected asylum claims in Norway and Italy.
But he remained free to carry on an asylum claim in Britain. It is understood human rights issues played a key role in Abdulrahimzai’s case. Removals to Afghanistan have been almost impossible when an asylum seeker claims they are in danger from the Taliban, as the killer did.
Home Office minister Chris Philp yesterday said X-ray checks to establish the true ages of migrants will be introduced soon.
In the Commons, Conservative MP for Bournemouth East Tobias Ellwood yesterday demanded an investigation after ‘so many red flags’ were missed. Immigration minister Robert Jenrick said an investigation would take place so lessons could be learnt.
Abdulrahimzai, of Poole, was found guilty of murder by a majority verdict at Salisbury Crown Court on Monday. He is to be sentenced today.
Last night, Labour called for an urgent independent inquiry, citing a ‘total systems failure’.
Dorset Police were approached for comment. A spokesman previously said Abdulrahimzai’s convictions were not marked on any UK police intelligence systems.