Khalid Salisu viciously stabbed his victim 22 times in his own flat during a drug deal gone wrong
Khalid Salisu(Image: Merseyside Police)
A thug told police offiicers “town is a dangerous place” before he viciously stabbed a man 22 times across his body in a drug deal gone wrong. Khalid Salisu repeatedly knifed his victim to his head, neck and chest without provocation, having attended his flat in order to sell him cannabis.
While the exact motive for his “frenzied attack” remains largely unexplained, the knifeman later checked into a city centre hotel. But he was subsequently seen hurriedly gathering his belongings and fleeing the premises when he realised that the police were onto him, ultimately being arrested at a train station.
Liverpool Crown Court heard this week that Salisu attended Dean Levens’ home on Bedford Walk in Toxteth on November 9 last year in order to deliver a quantity cannabis in a deal which had been arranged via phone contact with a third man. Ring doorbell footage showed the 30-year-old, of no fixed address, entering the communal block of flats, moments before the complainant reported being attacked while sitting on his own sofa.
Damian Nolan, prosecuting, said: “The rationale for the attack is unclear, but the crown’s case is that it was an unprovoked attack. Given that the only connection between them was cannabis, it may be that the court can reasonably come to the conclusion that it was almost certainly against that background.”
Mr Levens was thereafter stabbed a total of 22 times to his head, neck, arms and chest using a four-inch flick knife before he was able to push Salisu out of his apartment, locking the door behind him. Mr Nolan added of the “gratuitous” attack: “It is the crown’s case that, given the relatively short nature of the assault and the number of wounds inflicted, it must have been a frenzied attack.”
The victim later reported to the police that the first blows with the knife had been made to his neck, where he received “over a quarter” of his wounds. One laceration was also sustained to the face, although his injuries were ultimately not deemed life-threatening and were closed using sutures.
Salisu meanwhile attempted to book himself into the International Inn on South Hunter Street in Liverpool city centre for the night following the assault, although he was told that no accommodation was available. He subsequently returned the following day, November 10, and was given a bed in a shared room.
Merseyside Police subsequently traced him to the hotel and attended the premises, although they discovered that he was not present at the time. Salisu returned shortly after officers left again but departed once more “within a few moments, taking all of his possessions”.
The defendant was thereafter arrested while walking through Central Station, with Mr Levels then picking him out in an identity parade. He has one previous conviction for possession of a bladed article in a public place and possession of cannabis, receiving a six-month imprisonment suspended for a year and handed a serious violence reduction order.
This related to an incident in December 2023, when Salisu told PCs “town is a dangerous place” after being stopped in the city centre in possession of these illegal items. Four months of this suspended sentence was later activated due to “non-compliance”.
Daniel Travers, defending, told the court: “This is his first period in custody. He does have ambitions for the future. He had been regularly employed in different jobs, including sales jobs, but had recently qualified to work on the railways.
“He is a man who believes in God and takes his religion seriously. He has reflected on this period. It is his desire and intention to gain employment and not to return to custody in the future.”
Salisu admitted unlawful wounding, with no evidence ultimately being offered in respect of an earlier charge of attempted murder. Appearing via video link to HMP Liverpool wearing a black t-shirt and a shaved head on Monday, he was jailed for 42 months and handed a 15-year restraining order.
Sentencing, Judge Gary Woodhall said: “I have no evidence directly into what motivated the attack, but it is obviously in the context of an illegal business in drug dealing. On any view, this was an unprovoked attack on Mr Levens. You carried to the scene of this crime a four-inch flick knife and used it to stab Mr Levels repeatedly, causing 22 separate wounds to his head, arm, neck and chest.
“There were, in fact, no life threatening injuries. However, the number of blows required to cause these injuries and where these blows were aimed, to sensitive parts of his body, with over a quarter of injuries to the neck, shows the ferocity of the attack and your clear intention to cause your victim harm.”