Killer 'feared for his life' during 34-strike knife attack, defence claims

A man on trial for murder was acting out of trauma – after suffering several assaults and violent deaths of loved ones, which sent him into a ‘spiral’ – his defence claims.

Khalil Muhammad, 27, is accused of the murder of Frederik Mutala, 23, who was killed during a drug deal in Rochfords Gardens, Slough at about 3.20pm, on September 11, 2024.

Muhammad was attempting to sell half a kilo of cannabis – but the deal went wrong, and Muhammad stabbed Mr Mutala more than 30 times.

He appeared to attack him from behind, before driving over his body with the Audi Mr Mutala had driven there. This, Muhammad claims, was a mistake resulting from his inexperience with driving.

As Muhammad’s trial continues this week, the defendant took the stand and detailed his memory of the events and his mindset at the time.

He acknowledged that his actions were ‘horrific’ and he did not recognise himself in them. 

The court heard that Muhammad faced a series of stressful life events which caused him to unravel into ‘paranoia’ and ‘obsession.’

This included the death of a friend, Kyron Lee, who was brutally murdered by a gang armed with machetes in 2022.

Muhammad admits to killing Mr Mutala but has pleaded guilty to manslaughter, not murder – saying he ‘blacked out’ during the attack and acted while in fear for his life.

The case – Muhammad’s version of events

Muhammad says he has no independent memory of the moment when he killed Mr Mutala.

He was only able to piece together what happened when police showed him the harrowing CCTV footage.

“Watching it back was like watching another person,” he said. “I’ve never behaved that way in my life. It’s frightening that it’s me in that video.”

He said his actions were borne of a deep fear that he would be attacked again. As well as other unfortunate life events, he had been stabbed a few months prior to killing Mr Mutala, the court heard.

This was exacerbated by an alteration with Mr Mutala during the drug deal, who rather than pay for the drugs, took a knife out and swung it towards Muhammad’s neck and face, he said.

Muhammad put his hand up to protect himself and his hand was slashed. He said Mr Mutala told him to ‘get the f**k out of the car’ and when Muhammad did, he drove off.

Muhammad tried to give chase on foot.

“I was in shock,” he said. “As far as I was concerned, [Frederik] was a friend.”

The Audi didn’t get far before turning back, because on his way out Muhammad had snatched the keyless car’s fob.

Muhammad said the pair spoke on the phone to negotiate an exchange – the cannabis for the fob. 

When Mr Mutala returned, Muhammad went to the backseat, where the cannabis was, to take it back, and saw two large kitchen knives there. He took one.

Mr Mutala exited the car to collect his key fob – but at that point, he made a grab for the cannabis bag, Muhammad said.

He did not see what became of the knife Mr Mutala had used to attack him earlier and ‘panicked’.

Muhammad said he was ‘in fear of his life’ – especially because Mr Mutala had threatened him, saying there were ‘more of his people coming.’

“I remember thinking, ‘He’s going to attack me again. He’s about to stab me,’ and that’s when I blacked out,” Muhammad said. 

It was at this point that Muhammed launched his deadly attack.

He claims that Mr Mutala had been turning around at the time – so Muhammed had not truly aimed to stab Mr Mutala in the back, as the prosecution posited earlier in the trial.

After that, Muhammed got in the Audi and attempted to drive away.

Muhammad said he was not a confident driver and struggled to operate the Audi. It was for this reason that he ran over Mr Mutala, he said – he had actually attempted to swerve to miss him.

Traumatic past events sent Muhammad into a ‘spiral’

The jury heard how Muhammad was suffering increasing ‘paranoia’ and ‘obsessive’ thoughts, following a series of negative life events.

On the death of his friend Kyron, Muhammad said he saw first-hand the impact on Kyron’s family, and said: “You never get over things like that.”

The one-year anniversary of Kyron’s death brought up ‘constant reminders,’ he added.

Then, Muhammad himself was injured in what he believes was an intentional attack – a case of ‘mistaken identity.’ Men in a car rear-ended him while he was on a bike, breaking his foot.

He believes that given the chance, the occupants would have attacked him further.

This was one of many ‘triggers’ that set Muhammad on edge, the court heard, since Kyron was run down in a car while riding his bike in advance of the machete attack.

These and other events caused a ‘domino effect’ causing him to withdraw, drinking and smoking cannabis more heavily. It helped him sleep and deal with intrusive thoughts, he said.

Muhammad says was having frequent nightmares about himself or people he knew being attacked and was losing sleep.

“I’d be looking over my shoulder, paranoid something was going to happen,” said Muhammad. “I’d be in this heightened state all the time.”

Then, in June 2024, one of Muhammad’s cousins was killed with a shotgun in his own home. This event also had a significant impact on him, Muhammad said.

The defence’s position is that this intense and ongoing fear spoke to Muhammad’s mindset the night he attacked Mr Mutala.

The trial continues.