‘Housemates making too much noise’ – accused

A MAN accused of trying to murder his three housemates told a court the incident started when he confronted them about making too much noise.

Masoud Khalifa – who says he wanted to get a good night’s sleep before an interview – denies 11 counts, including three of attempted murder, and is on trial at Cardiff Crown Court.

Giving evidence from the witness boxyesterday, the defendant said: “There was a knife on the floor and I picked it up.”

The court heard the incident happened on July 30 last year at the property in Marlborough Road in Roath, Cardiff, which he shared with Gulam Wakil, Fardin Ahmadi, and Omid Shayesteh.

Khalifa said he needed to get up at 6am for an important interview at 8am and became frustrated when he could not sleep due to noise.

He told the court he heard the others laughing and “swearing loudly” so went downstairs and confronted them.

The defendant said: “I opened the door and said: ‘What’s all this about? Why are you making so much noise? I have an interview tomorrow.’”

Khalifa said he realised they were swearing at him then Mr Shayesteh slapped him and told him: “This doesn’t concern you.”

He told the court: “Omid slapped me in the face and I fell on the floor. There was a knife on the floor so I picked it up. He was hitting me and I was scared.”

Paul Hewitt, for Khalifa, held up a knife in a plastic tube and asked: “When you say you picked up the knife was it this knife?” The defendant confirmed it was.

Asked why he picked up the knife Khalifa replied: “I was scared. I don’t know why I did that. They came towards me. They were beating me up. It happened very quickly.”

Mr Hewitt asked: “The comments about you wanting to kill them – did you say anything like that?” The defendant replied: “No, I cannot recall, no.”

The defence barrister asked: “Did you have any intention to kill anyone that night?” Khalifa replied: “No, not at all. It was an accident, what happened.”

Asked what he meant by an accident he replied: “It happened on the spur of the moment. Unwittingly. I picked up the knife.

“I had no intention whatsoever of stabbing anybody. I had the knife in my hand then the police arrived.”

Khalifa, 28, from Marlborough Road in Roath, denies three counts of attempted murder and three counts of making threats to kill.

He also denies assault occasioning actual bodily harm, two counts of wounding, and two counts of wounding with intent. The trial, before Judge Keith Thomas, continues.