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Abdul Malik jailed for attempted murder after stabbing and slashing victim during sexual encounter in Dymchurch
15:06, 20 December 2022
updated: 16:46, 20 December 2022
A “frenzied” takeaway worker who tried murdering his terrified victim during a sexual encounter has been jailed for 28 years.
Abdul Malik, 29, repeatedly stabbed and slit the screaming man’s throat after luring him inside the bedroom of his Dymchurch home.
Malik’s courageous victim - who managed to escape the sustained knife attack - watched as his attacker was jailed at Canterbury Crown Court today.
A jury unanimously convicted Malik in October after hearing he silently inflicted 12 knife wounds, including to the genitalia, on the evening of January 11.
Judge Simon James told Malik he was “remorseless” and his actions “frenzied, persistent and prolonged”.
“You produced an 18 centimetre bladed kitchen knife and without any warning or motive you slashed your victim’s throat, before repeatedly slashing and stabbing his body,” he added.
Previously, Malik’s victim gave jurors a blow-by-blow account of how he escaped the blood-soaked room.
After grabbing his coat containing his phone and car keys, he ran past Malik’s housemates gathered on the landing and fell down a flight of stairs.
He managed to struggle to his vehicle in the adjacent car park off Orgarswick Avenue, called 999, and crashed into nearby railings.
The man told how he locked the doors and feared for his life while waiting 25 minutes for the emergency services.
Had he failed to escape and receive urgent medical treatment, he would have died, the court heard.
The man still suffers significant mental and physical trauma.
He told the court today his ordeal had caused terrifying flashbacks and the loss of his career.
“I feel the attack has changed who I am as a person, I’m no longer the happy-go-lucky person I once was,” he said.
“I now have to sleep with a light on, I don’t like being in dark rooms alone as this brings on flashbacks.”
The man told how seeing emergency service lights, or a person rummaging through their pockets, also triggers flashbacks.
Malik, an Afghani refugee, sat forward and expressionless as his interpreter translated the account of his victim’s trauma.
During the trial, his victim told jurors the blade against his throat felt like “barbed wire”.
“At that stage I was aware I was going to be killed in that room - he proceeded to stab my abdomen,” he said.
“I was screaming for help, begging for him to stop, but he was just silent.”
The man said he hoped Malik’s housemates would rush to his aid during the sustained assault, which “seemed like forever”.
"Without any warning or motive you slashed your victim’s throat, before repeatedly slashing and stabbing his body..."
He explained Malik “suddenly stopped,” removed the chair blocking the door and “let me go”.
“Shock kicked in, I just became numb," he said.
"At the time I thought it was just the neck [which had been attacked]."
Representing Malik, Danny Moore said his client had suffered childhood trauma and had subsequent traits of unstable personality disorder.
“It is something to be said on his behalf that he is a man of previous good character," he said.
“The defendant was estranged from his family at a really young age. He was in a refugee camp and effectively came to this country as a very young person on his own.
“But despite that he found accommodation. [He has] a previous good work record.”
Jurors cleared Malik, formerly of High Street, of allegations he raped and attempted to rape the man before unleashing the horrific violence.
He will have to serve at least two-thirds of his custodial term before being eligible for parole, then a further two on licence.
After the sentencing, Detective Constable Max Pegler said: "This was an extremely disturbing incident and it is only thanks to the response of medics that we are not dealing with an even more serious case.
"I hope Malik's quick arrest by officers on the day, the conviction secured and the lengthy sentence now imposed provides reassurance to the victim and the wider community."