A 22-year-old Afghan hijacker of a passenger flight who attempted to kill his wife with an axe was sentenced to life in prison Wednesday.
Mohammed Safi, 54, was given asylum in the UK despite leading his armed gang to land at Stansted airport with 156 hostages on a flight they had commandeered in 2000, sparking a three-day siege.
In 2006, a High Court judge issued a judgement allowing the hijackers to stay in the UK, a move that Tony Blair, who was prime leader at the time, called “an abuse of common sense.”
Safi attempted to break into the house with a hammer and chisel last year despite Lina having told him he was no longer welcome there, the prosecutor told Harrow Crown Court yesterday.
When he claimed to have come to collect some clothes, Minah let him in; however, he promptly assaulted Lina with an axe, the court heard.
While running up the stairs, Lina was struck several times in the head by the axe, and as she fought to shield her head, she hurt her arms.
According to the attorney testifying in court, Minah attempted to defend her mother when she was struck in the back with an axe. I want to kill you, Safi had yelled at the two.
He had previously acknowledged biting his daughter and wanting to do Lina serious harm, but he had maintained his denial of trying to kill her.
Safi allegedly attacked his wife’s character during his trial and implied that she had attacked him with an axe while displaying no remorse, according to judge Rosa Dean.
It was shocking that you actually carried out the execution you had planned to, she said.
Safi was found guilty of two sexual assaults after groping customers in a taxi in 2016.
He was also given a warning for assaulting his ex-wife in 2014. Safi received concurrent sentences of at least 18 years in prison for the attempted murder and 28 months in prison for biting his daughter.
Following their arrival at Stansted in February 2000, Safi and eight accomplices held 156 passengers and crew hostage for three days while claiming to have escaped a Taliban death squad.
The eight hijackers were sentenced to five years in prison, but in 2003 the court of appeals overturned the convictions because it determined the trial judge had made mistakes while summarising the evidence.