This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

A “Snapchat queen” who posted a video of her boyfriend dying in a pool of blood has been found guilty of orchestrating his killing.



Fatima Khan, 20, plotted with a love rival to kill Afghan asylum seeker Khalid Safi, 18, whom she had been seeing for two years.

Safi was repeatedly stabbed in the chest by Raza Khan in North Acton, west London, on the evening of 1 December 2016, jurors were told.

Fatima Khan filmed him as he lay dying in the street and posted it on Snapchat with the caption: “This is what happens when you fuck with me.”

The self-confessed Snapchat addict denied murder and alternative counts of manslaughter and conspiracy to cause grievous bodily harm, saying she was ashamed of the video.

But a jury at the Old Bailey deliberated for 18 hours and eight minutes to find her guilty of manslaughter by a majority of 10-1 on Tuesday.

During the trial, jurors were shown the disturbing footage as well as CCTV images of the fatal confrontation between Safi and 19-year-old Raza Khan.

Prosecutor Kate Bex QC said the two men had fought over Fatima Khan a few years earlier, at which time Safi had been injured. And in the runup to the killing, Fatima Khan had been in daily contact with Raza Khan via Snapchat, jurors heard. She became upset when Safi bought her a watch and presented it to her at her home five days before his death, jurors heard.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Khalid Safi, 18. The whereabouts of his killer is unknown. Photograph: Metropolitan police/PA

Fatima Khan threw the gift at him out of an upstairs window because her family did not know about the relationship, Bex said. The lawyer told jurors that Raza Khan was “a rival for her affections” and Fatima Khan was “essential to the success of the plan” to get rid of Safi.

She said: “She told Raza Khan where to find Khalid Safi and she ensured Mr Safi was still there by the time Mr Khan travelled to the scene.”

On the day of the killing, Safi and Fatima Khan had gone to a Costa Coffee near to her work at Vigilant Security in North Acton. The couple were hanging around benches outside the coffee shop before Raza Khan turned up in a minicab. When Raza Khan arrived, he went straight up to them holding a large knife in his hand, jurors heard.

Bex said: “Raza Khan spoke briefly to either the defendant or Khalid Safi and then turned to face him, at which point the prosecution suggest the knife would have been in plain view.

“Mr Safi produced a screwdriver and they began to fight. The fight lasted 15 seconds at most and it is caught on CCTV. Mr Safi died at the scene having received a number of wounds to his chest, one penetrating his heart.”

Raza Khan was injured in the fight but calmly left the scene and his whereabouts remain unknown, the court heard.

Defending, Kerim Fuad QC said Fatima Khan was ashamed at posting the “callous and crass” video on Snapchat.

He told jurors she had been “left to carry the can” by Raza Khan, who attacked Safi out of “macho madness”.

Describing Fatima Khan as “Ilford’s Snapchat queen”, Fuad told jurors the defendant saw more of life on her phone than through her eyes. He added: “You may think it’s a blight on the young today.”

The video of Safi was posted among images of her daily life, including her morning coffee, an Uber cab ride and even the carpet of her family home.

Giving evidence, Fatima Khan wept as she told how she suffered flashbacks from post-traumatic stress disorder brought on by a previous relationship.

Fuad asked her: “In your mind’s eye, who was lying on the floor, was it Khalid?”

The defendant said: “I was not thinking. When I get flashbacks I don’t know what I’m doing.”

Concerning Raza Khan, she told jurors: “I hate him. He is so disgusting because he done something so bad. Khalid did not deserve to be dead. He disgusts me. I feel sick just thinking about it.”

Fatima Khan will be sentenced at the Old Bailey on 30 July.