Paul Foster died aged 47 after being knifed once in the back by a gang of ‘tooled up’ men on Muirhead Avenue in West Derby
Paul Foster (Image: Merseyside Police)
A man was stabbed to death by a balaclava-clad “mob” who burst into a flat during a drugs “taxing”, a jury has heard. Paul Foster died aged 47 after suffering a single stab wound to the back during the incident on Muirhead Avenue in West Derby.
His assailants were said to have been “tooled up” with a knife and an imitation firearm at the time of the robbery, stealing 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 went on trial at Liverpool Crown Court accused of his murder today, Wednesday.
A jury of six men and six women heard during the prosecution’s opening this afternoon that Mr Foster dealt drugs from the home of a now-deceased woman named Lyndzi McCowan on Muirhead Avenue, which Fields was said to have driven his four co-defendants to in his black Kia Ceed car shortly after after 1.30am on October 15, 2024. David McLachlan KC, appearing for the crown, 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, although Blundell and Fields admit these counts.
Fields has similarly pleaded guilty to manslaughter. The trial, before Judge Simon Medland KC, continues, and is expected to last for five to six weeks.