Bournemouth: Asylum seeker killer could be deported after life sentence

An Afghan asylum seeker and convicted triple killer will be considered for deportation after serving a life sentence for murdering a man outside a takeaway shop.

Lawangeen Abdulrahimzai stabbed Tom Roberts, 21, in Bournemouth in a row over an e-scooter in March last year.

He was sentenced to a minimum term of 29 years last month.

Immigration minister Robert Jenrick said a deportation order could coincide with the end of his sentence.

A trial heard Mr Roberts was acting as "peacemaker" in the early hours of 12 March 2022 after his friend James Medway got into an argument with Abdulrahimzai.

Abdulrahimzai, who arrived in the UK in December 2019, told the authorities at the time of his arrest that he was 16, before it was determined at Salisbury Crown Court that his true age now is 21.

Conservative MP for Bournemouth West, Conor Burns, raised the case in the Commons, with Mr Jenrick telling him: "I can assure him that Mr Abdulrahimzai will be considered for deportation so that removal coincides with the end of his custodial sentence."

Former minister Mr Burns had earlier told the Commons that Abdulrahimzai "should not have been in the United Kingdom".

He added: "It had emerged subsequent to his stabbing of Tom that he had been found guilty of two murders in another country, Norway had denied him his claim of asylum in their country.

"It subsequently emerged that although he told the authorities he was 14 when he arrived, he was in fact 18. Dental records suggest that he was an adult.

"He was placed in a local secondary school with other children, in my Bournemouth West constituency.

"His foster carer reported to social services that he was carrying knives on a regular basis, that he was engaged in street fighting for money.

"Yet he was allowed to go on and stab young Tom to death, a man who wanted to give his life in service to this country in our armed forces."

Mr Burns added: "We let him down, there was multi-agency failure and I would like the minister to use the opportunity of this debate this evening to recommit the Government to making sure that we are adequately testing people who are saying they are children, to work out whether in fact they are or not before we let them loose on the streets of our country."

Home Office minister Mr Jenrick spoke about the need to "strengthen ties with international partners to make vital intelligence-sharing more seamless".

He added: "Individuals attempting to cheat our immigration system, using multiple names and aliases and ages must face decisive action.

"It is unacceptable that we place those such as foster carers, such as schools and others who support individuals in intolerable and dangerous positions because we don't have access to sufficient data."

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