Lawangeen Abdulrahimzai (born 2001) is an

Afghan Afghan may refer to: *Something of or related to Afghanistan, a country in Southern-Central Asia *Afghans, people or citizens of Afghanistan, typically of any ethnicity ** Afghan (ethnonym), the historic term applied strictly to people of the Pas ...

man who

murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person wit ...

ed three men; two in Serbia and one in the United Kingdom. Lawangeen Abdulrahimzai was born in Afghanistan in 2001. From 2015, he moved illegally through many international borders, initially through Pakistan and Iran before moving between Norway, Italy and Serbia. On 31 July 2018, he used a Kalashnikov rifle to shoot dead two Afghan men, for which he was convicted in absentia of two counts of murder. In 2019 he made a claim for asylum in Norway. During December 2019, it was rejected; during the same month he illegally entered the United Kingdom, where he claimed asylum, pretending to be an unaccompanied 14-year-old. He moved to

Poole Poole () is a large coastal town and seaport in Dorset, on the south coast of England. The town is east of Dorchester and adjoins Bournemouth to the east. Since 1 April 2019, the local authority is Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Counc ...

, Dorset, England, where he was put into foster care. On 12 March 2022, he stabbed stranger Thomas Roberts to death in the street in

Bournemouth Bournemouth () is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council area of Dorset, England. At the 2011 census, the town had a population of 183,491, making it the largest town in Dorset. It is situated on the Southern ...

, Dorset, England. Abdulrahimzai admitted

manslaughter Manslaughter is a common law legal term for homicide considered by law as less culpable than murder. The distinction between murder and manslaughter is sometimes said to have first been made by the ancient Athenian lawmaker Draco in the 7th cen ...

, but denied

. In January 2023, he was tried at

Salisbury Crown Court Salisbury Law Courts is a Crown Court venue, which deals with criminal cases, and a County Court venue, which deals with civil cases, in Wilton Road, Salisbury, England. It also accommodates the local Magistrates' court (England and Wales), magi ...

in Wiltshire, where on 23 January he was convicted of murder. On 25 January, the same court

sentenced Sentenced was a Finnish gothic metal band that played melodic death metal in their early years. The band formed in 1989 in the town of Muhos and broke up in 2005. History Early years (1988–1991) Sentenced started in 1988 as Deformity and c ...

him to

life imprisonment Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment for a crime under which convicted people are to remain in prison for the rest of their natural lives or indefinitely until pardoned, paroled, or otherwise commuted to a fixed term. Crimes for ...

with a minimum of 29 years.

References

2001 births Living people 21st-century criminals Afghan emigrants to the United Kingdom Afghan people convicted of murder Afghan serial killers Crime in Dorset Date of birth missing (living people) Male murderers Murder in England Murder in Serbia People convicted of murder by England and Wales People convicted of murder by Serbia {{UK-hist-stub