The man who fatally stabbed his 25-year-old “friend” with a “zombie killer knife” in Tufnell Park wept in court today and said: “He didn’t deserve to die.”
Abdirahman Abdullahi, of Brecknock Road, is on trial at the Old Bailey after he killed his drug dealer Ali Al Har by stabbing him twice in the thigh with a 30cm combat knife in Corinne Road on September 18.
Abdullahi admits he robbed Mr Al Har at knifepoint for a bag containing a “kilogram” of cannabis but denies murder, claiming the victim chased him before a “grapple” ensued where Mr Al Har “grabbed” both his hands.
Abdullahi alleges he was so afraid Mr Al Har would take the knife that he stabbed him with “minimal force” and in self defence, jurors heard.
“The jury would have seen you all of today and a large part of Friday crying,” said Paul Mendelle QC of the defence.
“I didn't mean for this to happen,” said Abdullahi, who dabbed his eyes with a tissue at the witness stand.
“People cry for a variety of reasons,” continued Mr Mendell. “Who or what were you crying about?”
“Ali,” said Abdullahi. “His parents didn't deserve this.”
He alleged he wasn't crying for himself and didn't feel sorry for himself.
Mr Mendelle earlier asked his client how seriously he believed Mr Al Har was injured after he knifed him and ran away,
“Not that seriously,” said Abdullahi. “Because he still had the strength to fight me.”
He claims the last he saw of Mr Al Har was the victim “limping” after him.
“Did you think he had been mortally wounded?” asked Mr Mendelle.
“No,” said Abdullahi, who was 24 at the time of the incident. “Never”.
Asked how he felt upon learning Mr Al Har had died, Abdullahi said: “I've never killed someone before, so it's not a nice feeling, is it?”
During cross-examination, the defendant told Julian Evans QC, for the prosecution, that he was in a “state of shock” as he didn't expect Mr Al Har to chase him.
Mr Evans, citing previous witness testimony, suggested Abdullahi stopped running at the corner of Brecknock Road and Corinne Road, instead “pointing the blade of the knife” at Mr Al Har and warning him off. But Abdullahi denies this and claims he kept running.
Mr Evans said: “On the corner of Brecknock Road and Corinne Road you said words to the effect of: 'Go back or I'll kill you.'”
“Why would I kill someone over weed?” asked Abdullahi. “I was like, to him: 'Stop chasing me or you're going to get us arrested.'”
Abdullahi told the court he'd been carrying the knife like “a baton” but claims he “never saw the seriousness of the knife” he was carrying.
The defendant claims he was “out of breath and couldn't run any more” once he reached Corinne Road, so dropped the bag near the victim's parked Audi car.
Abdullahi alleges Mr Al Har grabbed his left arm and pulled him so he “pirouetted” around, then they started “tussling”.
In this melee Abdullahi inflicted the fatal wound, slicing a vein and major artery in Mr Al Har's leg before fleeing.
But Mr Evans disputes Abdullahi ever let go of the bag, saying he had it in his left hand, and the knife in his right throughout the incident.
“You stabbed him twice,” he said. “You stabbed him because you wanted that bag – you wanted the cannabis.
“When you stabbed him you didn't do it in fear for your life but because you wanted to get away with your haul for the night.”
Asked why he then picked up the bag up again, Abdullahi said he had already “embarrassed” himself by robbing a “friend” so wanted something to show for it.
He later added: “After I stabbed him I was scared. I thought: 'He really wants the knife now.'”
The defendant said he didn't call an ambulance because he “didn't think [he] had hurt him that badly”.
Describing his state of mind while running back to his St Mungo's supported accommodation, Abdullahi said: “I'm just thinking: 'I have made enemies with somebody and he knows where I live.'”
At the hostel, he sheathed the blade and throw it into a neighbour's room, saying he'd “done a madness”.
He then got on a bus towards King's Cross, repeatedly calling his friend Kyron Samuels, who also lived at the hostel but was in Brentford that night.
Abdullahi claims he didn't tell Samuels what happened at that point – just that he needed help. Samuels said he should come to him.
The court heard how Abdullahi noticed he had blood on his trousers, but was wearing shorts underneath, so jumped off the bus and threw them away near a Nisa Local in York Way.
He later took a taxi to Samuels' address, where he stayed the night.
The next day both men travelled to another address in Oxford, where they stayed on September 19 and 20.
The court heard how Samuels sold a quantity of the cannabis stolen from Mr Al Har during this period, funding a shopping trip for both men in Oxford where Abdullahi also got rid of his cornrow hair braids. He denies purposefully changing his appearance.
“My life was over,” he said of the shopping jaunt. “It was like a final goodbye. I didn't mean to kill him.”
When interviewed by police Abdullahi did not immediately say Mr Al Har “grabbed” his hands, that he was afraid for his life, or that he stabbed him in self defence. The defendant says he wasn't in the right state of mind and was waiting for his legal counsel.
Samuels, who was 27 at the time of the attack, has pleaded not guilty to assisting an offender but admits he perverted the course of justice.
He will appear before the court at a later date.
The trial continues.
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