Terror suspect granted UK asylum launched knife assault on bailiff over parking fines
Germany-born Mohammed Alfatih, who is suspected Hamas terrorist wanted over an alleged plot to murder Jewish people, has been found guilty of attacking a bailiff over his wife’s unpaid parking fines
Mohammed Alfatih has been found guilty over the attack on the bailiff (Image: AFP via Getty Images)
The bailiff attacked by a knife-wielding Hamas terror suspect granted asylum in the UK told jurors how he could feel blood pouring down his back. Victim Kevin Bucknall said the level of aggression shown by Mohammed Alfatih, also known as Mohammed Naim, got “bigger and bigger”.
The 40-year-old ran towards the bailiffs van armed with a large kitchen knife in either hand. In evidence to Birmingham Crown Court during a trial which was subject to reporting restrictions, Mr Bucknall said he was concerned about a small child getting injured as Alfatih attacked him.
Mr Bucknall was unaware that Alfatih was on bail on suspicion of a terrorism offence when he called at his home in Fairfield Road, Kings Heath, Birmingham, to collect payment or seize goods in lieu of more than £2,250 linked to unpaid parking fines.
He was found guilty at Birmingham Crown Court (stock)(Image: BPM Media)
Footage of the attack on October 14 last year and Mr Bucknall’s bodycam video helped to convict Alfatih, who insisted he acted in self-defence.
Alfatih, who was born in Bavaria and grew up in Gaza, was found guilty of wounding on Froday and is now facing extradition over a suspected terror plot to attack Jewish and Israeli targets in Germany and Austria.
In his evidence to Birmingham Crown Court on November 3, Mr Bucknall said he did not realise a half-brick had been used to smash the window of his parked Citroen van.
He told the court he had suffered a cut to the back of his head as Alfatih stabbed out at his vehicle on the opposite side of the street to his home.
Mohammed Alfatih (circled) allegedly is a suspected Hamas terrorist (Image: AFP/Getty Images/Mahmud Hams)
The enforcement officer said he had been unable to remove Alfatih’s wife’s car, which he had clamped, as he was told by a colleague that it was owned by a finance company.
Describing a scuffle inside the property and the knife attack which unfolded yards from Alfatih’s front door, Mr Bucknall said: “The front door was open – I made peaceful entry into the property. A female was inside with a young child.
“At that point the defendant ran in off the street. He basically started attacking me, trying to push me out of the door. I was trying to defend myself. I was saying to stop, telling him to calm down. He just wasn’t listening.”
Mr Bucknall added: “He was just escalating the level of violence. He started out kicking me. I managed to turn him, and grab him from behind in a chokehold.
“The level of aggression he was showing was getting bigger and bigger. I had my hand on his head to turn him away. At which point he was trying to bite at me. He then ran towards the rear of the property, towards the kitchen.”
Believing that Alfatih had gone to arm himself with a knife, Mr Bucknall exited the property, got inside his van and shut the door.
Describing what happened next, the victim told jurors: “He has got two large knives. He has got one in each hand. He was like in a beeline straight to the van, to the driver’s side.
“He had a knife in his hand. I have seen his right hand come upwards and in a downwards stabbing motion. I was trying to move over to the passenger side – the window’s just exploded. My hands were covered in blood. I could feel it pouring down my back.”
The victim, who was trying to exercise a lawful High Court writ, added: “It was a one-way street so I had to try and reverse back out.
“I was trying to stop the blood and phone 999 for assistance.”
During his evidence, Mr Bucknall rejected a suggestion from Alfatih’s barrister that the defendant himself had been assaulted.
Jurors who convicted Alfatih after being shown film footage of the 40-year-old brandishing two large kitchen knives outside his home in Kings Heath, Birmingham, were not told of his alleged links to Hamas.
They were also not told Alfatih, reported to be the son of a senior Hamas official, was under surveillance by a counter-terrorism unit after being released on bail on suspicion of a terror offence days before the bailiff was attacked.
Alfatih, who mumbled to himself as the verdicts were returned, has been in custody since the knife attack.
He is also facing extradition proceedings at Westminster Magistrates’ Court and was told he will be sentenced for wounding in Birmingham on January 11.
