Reform has demanded further action after an aspiring marine was murdered by an Afghan asylum seeker who had shot dead two men in Serbia on his way to Britain.
Lawangeen Abdulrahimzai fatally stabbed Tom Roberts, 21, after a litany of state failures.
Abdulrahimzai claimed to be a 14-year-old fleeing the Taliban when he arrived by ferry to Poole, but he was actually 19.
He was enrolled in a secondary school in nearby Bournemouth, but was moved to a different school after being found with a knife on the premises.
Rachael Griffin, the senior coroner for Dorset, ruled on Wednesday that a full inquest into Robert’s death was not necessary because there were “individual errors” rather than a “systemic failure.”
In the coroner’s report, Griffin noted that when Abdulrahimzai arrived, no assessment was carried out to assess his age.
Lawangeen Abdulrahimzai claimed to be a 14-year-old fleeing the Taliban when he arrived by ferry to Poole, but he was actually 19PAFurther, when his fingerprints were eventually taken several weeks later, they revealed links with Norway and Italy, but no request for further information was made to those countries.
Asking for further details would have revealed that his age was in doubt.
The month after he arrived, a dentist said Abdulrahimzai was older than he claimed and while authorities felt an age assessment was needed, they wanted to prioritise a mental health screening first.
There were also multiple incidents with Abdulrahimzai carrying knives, and in further violent incidents hurt another student at school and tried to headbutt his foster carer.
When he moved schools after being found with a knife, he injured another pupil.
Then on the evening of March 10, 2022, just over a day before Roberts was murdered, police were told about a person carrying a machete-style knife.
Tom Roberts, 21, was fatally stabbed after a litany of state failures
PA
But police failed to gain access when they attended his address to speak to Abdulrahimzai, with a member of staff reportedly asleep at the desk.
Tony Smith, former director general of Border Force, said: “'My biggest worry is what went on with the fingerprints. Even as an under 18 we can still fingerprint asylum seekers on arrival to see if the person is known in the UK.”
He added: “why aren’t we routinely checking the fingerprints of anyone turning up at our border against the Interpol biometric database? Is it a legal issue? A capacity issue?
“We know the police found all this out later on in the investigation so I can only assume it was available to UK enforcement authorities — but not at the border.”
Family members of Roberts have told this broadcaster that the coroner is preventing the real extent of the failures being let out into the public.
Peter Wallace, Robert’s step-father, told GB News that the inquest was being blocked because it would show a “catalogue” of failings.
“I find this so unbelievable. We’ve waited over a year, it’s been postponed twice now and now they’ve cancelled.”
Wallace added: “It’s because they have failed in so many ways, they don’t want to hold an inquest because it will show the catalogue of failings that they are responsible for.
“They’ll just sweep it under the rug so no one is made aware.”
Reform UK MP Rupert Lowe MP said: “If it wasn’t clear before, it is evidently clear now that our asylum system is broken and not fit for purpose. We have no idea how many of the people who come here claiming to be children are adults.
“This is in part because the UK subscribes to the Council of Europe’s recommendations that migration officers must use, “the principle of presumption of minority for persons undergoing age assessment”.
“What this means in principle is that young men can enter our schools, where vulnerable children are at risk of violence, and in this tragic case Tom Roberts lies dead.
“The longer we keep this broken system in place, the longer we heed rules that prioritise the rights of the migrants over the rights of the citizen, the longer we turn a blind eye to the wholesale abuse of our hospitality the longer we will see the results in our hospital and morgues.”
The MP for Great Yarmouth added: “These are preventable acts that should never be happening in Britain. We must put our citizens and their interests first. We must introduce mandatory age checks on anyone entering the country, and anybody found lying about their age should undergo deportation.”
