Langen Abdul Rahimzai jailed for life for the murder of Thomas Roberts in Dorset | UK News

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A convicted triple-murderer seeking asylum in the UK has been sentenced to life in prison with a minimum term of 29 years after killing a Royal Marine outside a takeaway shop on the Underground.

Lungin Abdurahim was on the run from murder charges in Serbia when he arrived in the UK, but his violent past was so undetected that he managed to fool officials into believing he was 14 – up to six years younger than his actual age.

According to reports, police were warned seven times that Abdul Rahim was carrying a knife before he went on to stab 21-year-old Thomas Roberts in Bournemouth, Dorset, in March last year.

The fugitive killer was also placed in care on his arrival in the UK despite being found guilty in his absence of killing two people with a Kalashnikov assault rifle in Serbia.

The Home Office said it would investigate the “missing red flags” and look into the full circumstances surrounding the case.

The court heard earlier that the killer believed he was younger because that was what his uncle had told him while he was in Afghanistan.

Sentencing on Abdul Rahimzai, Judge Paul Dugdale told the defendant: “I judge on the basis that Mr Abdul Rahimzai was the aggressor at all times that night and by his conduct created a situation which resulted in the death of Thomas Roberts.

Besides, he was looking for trouble.

Turning to Abd al-Rahim Zai, the judge continued: “You started the conflict, and all your days you were the threatening aggressor. In seconds you took the life of a perfectly decent man with a bright future who was deeply loved by so many people. Your momentary act of extreme violence left no His meaning to the family is a tragic loss that she will feel for the rest of her life.”

During the trial in Salisbury, the accused, who was “fascinated by knives”, confessed to stabbing Roberts, who died of his injuries.

The court was told that Roberts was acting as a “peacemaker” in the early hours of March 12, 2022, after his friend James Midway got into an argument with Abdul Rahim Zai over an e-scooter that Abdul Rahim Zai claimed himself and left propped against the window of a subway sandwich shop on the way Old Christchurch.

The confrontation, which lasted just 24 seconds, saw Roberts slapping Abdul Rahimzai across the face.

Abdul Rahim Zai then revealed the knife he had hidden between two pants he was wearing and stabbed Roberts twice before escaping.

He had previously been seen carrying a knife by his adoptive parents, who warned him not to do so, and he was also warned by police and social workers about the dangers of carrying a knife.

Abdul Rahim Zai also shared photos of himself standing with a knife about 10 inches long on TikTok in the months leading up to the incident.

He was refused asylum in Norway in December 2019, but eventually arrived in Poole, Dorset, that same month.

Before the judge issued judgment, victim impact statements were read to the court from Roberts’ mother, father, stepfather, and partner.

His father, Philip Roberts, was the only one of the four to read his statement to the court himself, saying, “Tommy was my only son, I always wanted my son to continue in the family line but now he’s been picked from me, leaving a terrible void.”

Roberts’ mother, Dolores Wallace, said she was “the proudest mummy in the world.”

The statement read to the court on her behalf read:

“My heart is bleeding, broken, I know you’re not here anymore.”

His partner, Gemma Walker, told the court she had been in an “endless cycle of disbelief” since the Royal Marine’s ambitious murder.

The victim impact statement said, “Now there is nothing but complete and utter grief with no reason to go on. The opportunity to have children with the man I love has been missed. My world, my life, and my hopes have all faded away.”

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