An Afghan asylum seeker has admitted manslaughter by diminished responsibility over the fatal stabbing of a dog walker during what prosecutors described as a “frenzied” knife attack in west London.
Dawood Safi, 23, entered the UK in 2020 after arriving in a lorry and was granted asylum in 2022. He appeared before Southwark Crown Court, where he admitted the manslaughter of Wayne Broadhurst, 49, whose death occurred during the attack in Uxbridge on October 27, 2025.
Prosecutors accepted the manslaughter plea after four independent medical experts concluded that Safi was suffering from an abnormality of mental functioning at the time of the incident.
According to the prosecution, Safi was experiencing a psychotic episode and had lost contact with reality when he carried out the attack.
Jonathan Laidlaw KC, prosecuting, told the court that medical evidence showed Safi was “in a psychotic state” and unable to distinguish reality from delusion. He added that the “random, nonsensical and frenzied nature” of the attack supported the experts’ findings that Safi was acutely mentally unwell.
Wayne Broadhurst, who was walking his dog when he was attacked, was not known to Safi. He suffered multiple stab wounds, including injuries to his neck, chest, and side, and died at the scene.
Before the trial, Safi had already pleaded guilty to causing grievous bodily harm with intent against his landlord, Shahzad Farrukh, and to actual bodily harm involving a 14-year-old boy during the same incident. He also admitted possessing an offensive weapon.
Despite accepting the manslaughter plea, the prosecution will continue with the trial on two charges of attempted murder relating to the attacks on Farrukh and the teenager.
The court heard that members of Broadhurst’s family had wanted the case to proceed as a murder prosecution. However, prosecutors decided not to pursue the murder charge after reviewing the unanimous psychiatric evidence.
The case continues as the court considers the remaining attempted murder charges and determines Safi’s criminal responsibility for the additional victims injured during the incident.