Davod Safi detained indefinitely in psychiatric hospital after Uxbridge killing
Judge orders compulsory psychiatric detention after court finds Safi was psychotic when he stabbed and killed a man walking his dog in October last year.
A 28-year-old Afghan refugee, identified as Davod Safi, has been ordered to remain in a secure psychiatric hospital indefinitely after a court found he killed a man during a psychotic episode in Uxbridge in October last year. Safi, an Uber driver, was found guilty of manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility.
The attack began inside Safi's flat, where he stabbed his landlord Shahzad Farooq, and continued on a nearby street where he assaulted 49-year-old Wayne Broadhurst. Broadhurst, a municipal worker who was walking his dog Harry at the time, suffered 14 stab wounds to the head, neck, chest and back and was pronounced dead at the scene. A 14-year-old boy was also injured during the incident.
Court ruling and psychiatric findings
The judge ordered Safi’s compulsory detention in a high-security psychiatric hospital for treatment, concluding that he had been in a psychotic state when the attacks occurred. Evidence presented at the hearing showed that in the days before the assault Safi had a complete mental collapse and suffered from delusions, believing the family of his tenant had turned against him.
One witness described the attack as "a massacre", while another said Safi appeared "possessed by an outside force".
The victim’s family had sought to see Safi tried for murder, but prosecutors accepted a guilty plea to manslaughter on the basis of the substantial evidence of Safi’s severe mental illness. That evidence was decisive in the court's decision to impose indefinite psychiatric detention rather than a standard prison sentence.
The case highlights how the criminal justice system can impose hospital orders when psychiatric assessments show a defendant lacked normal criminal responsibility at the time of a violent act.
Photo: press material from the event
