Paul Foster died aged 47 after being stabbed during a drugs ‘taxing’ at a flat on Muirhead Avenue in West Derby
19:30, 24 Apr 2026Updated 20:07, 24 Apr 2026
Paul Foster died after being stabbed at a flat on Muirhead Avenue in West Derby(Image: Family handout)
A dad who is accused of murder after a man was stabbed to death has told a court that there was “no need for killing someone over a piece of crack”. Paul Foster, who was known as “Pablo”, died aged 47 after suffering a single stab wound to the back during a “taxing” on Muirhead Avenue in West Derby in the early hours of October 15, 2024.
His assailants were said to have been “tooled up” with a knife and an imitation firearm at the time of the robbery, stealing drugs and a quantity of cash from the address before fleeing. Four men and a woman, Elsadig Abrahim, Zayd Alasaly, Dylan Blundell, Michael Fields and Sarah Kasseum are currently on trial at Liverpool Crown Court accused of his murder.
Abrahim continued giving evidence to the jury today, Friday. Under questioning from his counsel Mark Rhind KC, he stated that he was unaware where he was being driven to with his co-defendants before the stabbing and did not know Mr Foster or the other occupants of the apartment, telling the court: “I thought [Blundell] was going to buy some drugs, he’s going to score.
“When we got to Muirhead, everybody starts putting on balaclavas and Sarah hands me a scarf. I knew it was gonna be a robbery, it’s not buying. I understood, by the time I arrived, it’s gonna be Mr Foster and his girlfriend in the house, and it’s easy to get what they want, to get the drugs.
“I think Dylan was talking to them, Fields and Sarah. I wasn’t concentrating. What I understood is, it’s not going to buy drugs, it’s going to take them from him. They’re gonna rob him. They started putting covers on their faces. It became obvious to me they’re not going to buy it.”
Asked why he had not left at this stage, Abrahim said: “I didn’t know where I was. I had no money to get a taxi or get on a bus to get back home. I was relying on Mick to take me back.”
When Mr Rhind put to him that “a serious offence was going on”, Abrahim added: “That’s what Dylan does all the time. He steals, he robs, shoplifting. That’s what he does. When I realised it was going to be a robbery, there was nothing I could do about it.”
Abrahim recalled that they then remained in the car for “less than a minute” and said: “The doors opened. All of them exit immediately. I waited for a few seconds. I stood behind, watching where are they going. I see them turning into the flats.
“I kept my distance, then I followed them. I didn’t know whether they were going to rob him. That’s what I understood, but I didn’t see any weapon or anything. I saw Sarah Kasseum holding the door. I could hear footsteps and some shouting.”
Having apparently been promised drugs by Blundell in return for a quantity of crack cocaine and a pair of Nike trainers which he had earlier given his co-defendant, Abrahim told the jury: “I was worried about Dylan running away from me again. He says he’s going to score, he goes and he never comes back.
“I thought he might do the same thing again to me, because he says he’s going to give me a little piece. It wouldn’t surprise me if he let me down again. The only reason I went is, I don’t trust him to come back.
“I pulled the scarf up to my nose. I was scared that anything could happen or anybody might see me. This is why I covered my face. There might be people more than they’re anticipating in the flat. There could be trouble. Anything could happen. I didn’t know exactly what to expect.”
However, Abrahim reported that he only ultimately reached the bottom of the stairs leading up to the flat in the question and said: “I heard the shouting and the footsteps. They were coming down the stairs. I couldn’t make out what they were saying.”
Asked why he had “got that far”, Abrahim replied: “It was stupid and foolish, just thinking about my crack. [Blundell] always let me down. I thought he might do it again. That wouldn’t surprise me.”
Abrahim said that Alasaly, Blundell and Fields were in the apartment for “two to three minutes maybe” before they ran out again, with all five defendants then returning to the car. When Mr Rhind asked him why he had re-entered the vehicle following the robbery, he responded: “I wasn’t thinking straight. It’s foolish, but it’s the only way to get back home. I didn’t know where I was.”
Having travelled back to the home of a man named Tony Conroy on St Mary’s Close in Wavertree together, Abrahim added: “I think Mick said there was a pool of blood. I think he said someone had been stabbed. I was scared and shocked. I don’t know what went on. He said he wasn’t expecting that. He’s expecting to punch him, kick him. I remember him talking about threatening him, not to stab.”
Abrahim said that Blundell then gave him around £50 of crack cocaine before he eventually returned home. He said he subsequently learned of Mr Foster’s death later in the day of October 15 while visiting the home of a man named Eugene Brown, which he earlier described as a “crack house”, saying of this: “I think Sarah or Mick was checking their phone.
“The atmosphere was complete shock of everybody about what happened. I was shocked. I felt sorry for him, because there’s no need for stabbing and killing someone over a piece of crack. I could see in their eyes the fear, and they’re scared about what happened.”
Abrahim alleged that Blundell had later given him a phone which had been stolen in the robbery and said: “Because Dylan is a shoplifter, he gets things from time to time. I wasn’t surprised. I thought Dylan had got it from somewhere or stolen it from somewhere, but not from Mr Foster’s house.”
Having been subsequently arrested, Abrahim was asked why he had not given this account to detectives under interview. He replied: “I was scared, scared of what would happen to me. They might think I did kill him, put the blame on me. Anything could happen to me. I was scared, so I kept my mouth shut.”
Abrahim went on to state that, several months later, Blundell told him that Alasaly had threatened to kill him if he “started speaking or telling people about the incident” and would burn his house down. He said this had left him “scared, worried, looking over my shoulder as I walk on the street” and added: “I didn’t know what to expect. I met him for the first time in the car. I didn’t know who he was.”
Jurors previously heard during the prosecution’s opening earlier this month that Mr Foster dealt drugs from the home of a now deceased woman named Lyndzi McCowan on Muirhead Avenue. Fields was said to have driven his four co-defendants to this address in his black Kia Ceed car shortly after 1.30am on October 15, 2024.
David McLachlan KC, the crown’s lead counsel, said: “They were not going to Muirhead Avenue for a little drive on a Tuesday morning in the early hours. The prosecution say that they were in the car for a purpose, and it was not a good purpose. The purpose was to rob Paul Foster of his money and his drugs in what is known commonly as taxing, and they went tooled up. By that, we mean that they were armed with a knife and an imitation firearm.”
Upon their arrival, Kasseum was said to have been “deployed to gain entry” to the address using the intercom, having apparently been “in the know” and “close enough to Paul Foster to know where he was and close enough to know what he did”. Mr McLachlan told the court: “Lyndzi McCowan buzzed her in. It did not work and, in fact, nobody arrived at the flat, so Lyndzi McCowan walked down to speak to the girl, Sarah Kasseum, who had been buzzed in.
“As she made her way downstairs, she was confronted by three males running at her. They were dressed in black. She did not see the girl that she had seen from the window. Lyndzi McCowan ran back into the flat, no doubt as fast as she could, and tried to shut the door against the males that were trying to barge in. She was screaming. She realised that the males were there to rob Paul Foster.”
These men were heard to say “where is he?”, “where’s the bits?” and “where’s the money?” and were said to be armed with “what appeared to be a gun”. Mr McLachlan added: “During that confrontation, Paul Foster was fatally stabbed in the back.
“What did they do? Well, they legged it. They fled the scene. They took cash, stolen from the flat. They were described as wearing all black clothing and balaclavas. A bloodstained piece of black metal, which was the plastic slide component of an air pistol, was recovered from inside 40A Muirhead Avenue. The knife was never recovered.
“It is the prosecution case that Paul Foster’s death was a direct consequence of a drug taxing where he was living and dealing drugs. It is the prosecution case that Michael Fields drove the offenders to the scene, that Sarah Kasseum was present at the scene and acted as a decoy by posing as someone who intended to purchase drugs from Paul Foster.
“But she was there for an entirely different purpose, that being to facilitate access to the flat for the purpose of the taxing that was to take place. Thereafter, the males went in, Michael Fields, Elsadig Abrahim, Zayd Alasaly and Dylan Blundell. They went in to do their business armed with weapons, a knife and an imitation firearm.
“The prosecution case is that all five defendants went to 40A Muirhead Avenue to rob Paul Foster of his drugs and money. They went mob handed. They were armed with a knife and an imitation firearm. The prosecution case is that they shared a common purpose, and that common purpose was, without a doubt, to rob Paul Foster and, if it came to it, and, sadly, it did, to commit murder.
“Was the stabbing of Paul Foster within the scope of a joint enterprise if the need arose? That will be a question that you will grapple with. The prosecution case is that it obviously was, and it will be necessary for you to consider, individually, what the intentions of each of the defendants was in this case.
“The prosecution case is that, whilst the defendants went to rob Paul Foster, they did so in the knowledge that, if it got on top, they could resort to using the weapons that they had, that were in their joint possession, to wound or to inflict grievous bodily harm with intent. The knife was not a toy, members of the jury.”
Abrahim, aged 61 and of Croxteth Road in Toxteth, 23-year-old Alasaly, of Corinto Street in Toxteth, 26-year-old Blundell, of Corsewall Street in Wavertree, 41-year-old Kasseum, of Lower Breck Road in Anfield, and 50-year-old Fields, of no fixed address, all deny murder and possession of a bladed article in a public place. Abrahim, Alasaly and Kasseum have also pleaded not guilty to robbery and carrying an imitation firearm with intent to commit an offence.
Blundell and Fields, however, admit these two counts, with the latter having similarly pleaded guilty to manslaughter. The trial, before Judge Simon Medland KC, continues.