Iraqi’s horror knife attack on stranger in attempt to get deported
THIS is the shocking moment an Iraqi migrant stabbed a stranger in broad daylight in an effort to be deported.
Rebaz Mohammed was told he might be kicked out of the country if he committed a serious offence, so pounced on Ellis Wheeler as the university student walked through a park on the way home from the gym.
Mohammed was caught on CCTV footage pulling a kitchen knife out of his coat before lunging at the 18-year-old, puncturing his lung with the blade.
Mr Wheeler staggered away but collapsed and passed out. He was taken to hospital after a ‘heroic’ friend maintained pressure on the wound while dialling 999.
Southampton Crown Court heard the first-year Solent University student underwent surgery following the ‘ indiscriminate’ December attack, but missed exams and still struggles to sleep.
The court heard Mohammed attacked Mr Wheeler after engaging him in a brief conversation about kickboxing.
Mohammed, who came to the UK illegally on a small boat, was arrested at the scene in Hoglands Park, Southampton, and told police he had attacked his victim so he could be sent home to Iraq. The 28-year-old had pleaded guilty to grievous bodily harm with intent and possessing a knife and was jailed for six years at a hearing last month.
Andrew Houston, prosecuting, said Mohammed knew he had to do something to be deported and had spoken to people who knew the immigration system.
He had previously been cautioned for criminal damage and battery, and in May 2022 was jailed for 12 weeks for racially aggravated harassment and stalking.
Richard Tutt, defending, said Mohammed – who lived in a £100a-night taxpayer-funded hotel near the Bournemouth seafront – had been ‘making what efforts he could to be deported’ but had no work and no money.
Mr Tutt added: ‘He believed, from what he had been told, that he needed to commit an offence that was serious enough.
‘He presents as a very naive person. He has experienced remorse, or at least sorrow.’
Sentencing Mohammed, Judge Brian Forster KC berated him for inflicting the horrific injuries to ‘achieve his own end’. He said:
‘ When anyone carries out an attack with a knife, it is down to chance. This was an indiscriminate attack.
‘Any member of our community could have been the victim.
‘You were willing to inflict a serious injury with a weapon to achieve your own end. You could have killed the victim.’
Commending the victim’s friend, the judge said he ‘may have saved [his] life’ and awarded him £250.
A Home Office spokesman said: ‘Foreign national offenders who abuse our hospitality by committing crimes will face the full force of the law, including deportation at the earliest opportunity for those eligible.’
‘You could have killed him’