Dawood Safi given indefinite hospital order for fatal Uxbridge stabbings

• Mrs Justice Cutts ordered Safi held indefinitely in a secure hospital for mental-health treatment.
• Safi admitted manslaughter by diminished responsibility for killing Wayne Broadhurst, and was convicted of attempting to murder landlord Shahzad Farrukh.
• The judge recommended deportation; the Home Secretary has the final decision.

Wayne Broadhurst was walking his dog in Uxbridge when Dawood Safi attacked him on 27 October 2025. Broadhurst, 49, was stabbed at least 14 times and died at the scene. Safi had attacked his landlord, Shahzad Farrukh, shortly beforehand; a 14-year-old boy was also injured. The Metropolitan Police said Broadhurst was not known to Safi. ¹

On 5 October, Mrs Justice Cutts ordered Safi to be detained indefinitely in a secure hospital for treatment. The judge said he had been in a psychotic state during the attacks. She also recommended that he be deported, saying his continued presence in the UK was to its detriment. Sky News reported that she made clear the final decision rests with the Home Secretary: a judicial recommendation, not a deportation decision. ²

The sentence followed the July trial. Safi had pleaded guilty to manslaughter by diminished responsibility for Broadhurst’s death. A jury found him guilty of attempting to murder Farrukh; Safi had also admitted causing actual bodily harm to the teenager. The jury could not reach a verdict on the attempted-murder charge relating to the boy, and prosecutors said they would not seek a retrial. ³

The Crown Prosecution Service said it accepted the manslaughter plea after four psychiatrists concluded Safi had psychotic depression and delusions that substantially impaired his ability to form rational judgements and exercise self-control. Diminished responsibility is a partial defence: Safi remained criminally liable for Broadhurst’s killing. The prosecution went ahead with the attempted-murder case against Farrukh, and the jury convicted Safi. ³

Sky reported that Broadhurst’s partner, Ann Newman, told the court she felt she had had her future stolen. His sister-in-law, Laura Ireland-Cochrane, said the family was struggling with the manslaughter conviction rather than a murder conviction, and worried Safi could one day be released if his mental health improved. ²

The order is reported as indefinite, but the available sentencing report does not specify its statutory form or whether a separate restriction order was made. Those details matter to the rules governing any future discharge, so the precise conditions cannot be stated from the published account. ²

Footnotes

1. Metropolitan Police, “Man convicted following death of Wayne Broadhurst” ↩

2. Sky News, “Afghan refugee who stabbed dog walker Wayne Broadhurst to death sentenced to indefinite hospital order” ↩ ↩² ↩³

3. Crown Prosecution Service, “Man convicted in connection to Uxbridge stabbings” ↩ ↩²