A Syrian asylum seeker who stabbed two people while on the run from police has been jailed for nine years.
Abdul-Rahman Al-Ahmed, 21, chased his first victim through a town centre in broad daylight before stabbing him several times.
Five months later the wanted man stabbed a shop worker in Cardiff in the abdomen leaving him with serious injuries.
He now faces deportation after far surpassing the threshold for being automatically removed from the UK, which is one year in custody.
Judge Paul Hobson said it was ‘pure good fortune’ that the injuries both men suffered were not worse. He said Al-Ahmed was a danger to the public.
Cardiff Crown Court heard Al-Ahmed was due to attend court in May 2023 for possession with intent to supply crack cocaine but failed to turn up.
He was staying in accommodation in Cardiff but then travelled to Bournemouth, Dorset, on July 22, 2023.
While there, Al-Ahmed, then 19, was involved in a dispute with a man over a watch.
He and a group of friends chased the man through the town centre before Al-Ahmed stabbed him several times, including after the victim fell to the ground.
Abdul-Rahman Al-Ahmed has been jailed for nine years after stabbing two people while on the run from police
Doctors said the man was lucky to not have ‘much more serious injuries’.
Al-Ahmed then returned to Wales and on December 15, 2023, tried to use a fake bank note in a shop in Cardiff.
The shop worker asked him to leave but Al-Ahmed refused so the staff member chased him outside with a bat.
Al-Ahmed called on a group of men and returned to stab the shop worker in the abdomen, leaving an 8cm deep wound which required surgery.
The man told the court in a statement: ‘They surrounded me like a pack of dogs. They left me to die on the roadside. I was terrified.’
Judge Hobson said this was a serious example of absconding, by going on to ‘commit serious offences while at large’.
He also said there was ‘very high risk of catastrophic injuries’ for both offences, and it was through ‘pure good fortune’ that the outcomes were not more serious.
Mr Grefstad, defending, said Al-Ahmed suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after fleeing the war in Syria.
At Cardiff Crown Court, Judge Paul Hobson said Al-Ahmed was a danger to the public
A psychiatric report said that after coming to the UK as an asylum seeker, the defendant’s actions during the Cardiff stabbing may have been influenced by his PTSD.
However, he is said to be coping well in custody while receiving treatment and medication for PTSD.
The Bournemouth stabbing was said to be ‘threat driven’ and short lived.
Mr Grefstad said the offences ‘paint a picture of a single chaotic period in this young man’s life’.
‘The Syrian war was incredibly violent. It is accepted that he came to the UK as an asylum seeker and it is likely that he witnessed a number of traumatic incidents.’
For two counts of section 18, namely wounding with intent and assault occasioning actual bodily harm, affray, possession of a bladed article and possession with intent to supply class A drugs, Al-Ahmed was jailed for nine years with an extended five years on licence.
Judge Hobson said an extended sentence was necessary to protect the public.
He said: ‘You have had a very troubled start in your life. Your experiences in Syria were traumatic. I have sympathy with that but also have to have regard for the safety of the public.’
