Dylan Blundell told police he was ‘terrified of repercussions to himself and his family’ after apparently naming the knifeman who killed 47-year-old Paul Foster
Dylan Blundell told police he was ‘terrified of repercussions to himself and his family’ after apparently naming the knifeman who killed 47-year-old Paul Foster
00:01, 09 Apr 2026
A man accused of murder was “chased into B&M” by a co-defendant who he claimed had stabbed a drug dealer to death during a “taxing”, a jury has heard. Paul Foster died aged 47 after suffering a single stab wound to the back in the incident on Muirhead Avenue in West Derby.
His assailants were said to have been “tooled up” with a knife and an imitation firearm at the time of the robbery, stealing a quantity of cash from the address before fleeing. Four men and a woman, Elsadig Abrahim, Zayd Alasaly, Dylan Blundell, Michael Fields and Sarah Kasseum went on trial at Liverpool Crown Court accused of his murder on Wednesday.
A jury of six men and six women heard during the prosecution’s opening yesterday afternoon that Mr Foster dealt drugs from the home of a now deceased woman named Lyndzi McCowan on Muirhead Avenue, where Fields was said to have driven his four co-defendants to in his black Kia Ceed car shortly after 1.30am on October 15 2024. David McLachlan KC, appearing for the crown, said: “They were not going to Muirhead Avenue for a little drive on a Tuesday morning in the early hours.
“The prosecution say that they were in the car for a purpose, and it was not a good purpose. The purpose was to rob Paul Foster of his money and his drugs in what is known commonly as taxing, and they went tooled up. By that, we mean that they were armed with a knife and an imitation firearm.”
Upon their arrival, Kasseum was said to have been “deployed to gain entry” to the address using the intercom, having apparently been “in the know” and “close enough to Paul Foster to know where he was and close enough to know what he did”. Mr McLachlan told the court: “Lyndzi McCowan buzzed her in. It did not work and, in fact, nobody arrived at the flat, so Lyndzi McCowan walked down to speak to the girl, Sarah Kasseum, who had been buzzed in.
“As she made her way downstairs, she was confronted by three males running at her. They were dressed in black. She did not see the girl that she had seen from the window. Lyndzi McCowan ran back into the flat, no doubt as fast as she could, and tried to shut the door against the males that were trying to barge in. She was screaming. She realised the males were there to rob Paul Foster.”
These men were heard to say “where is he?”, “where’s the bits?” and “where’s the money?” and were said to be armed with “what appeared to be a gun”. Mr McLachlan added: “During that confrontation, Paul Foster was fatally stabbed in the back.
“What did they do? Well, they legged it. They fled the scene. They took cash, stolen from the flat. They were described as wearing all black clothing and balaclavas. A bloodstained piece of black metal, which was the plastic slide component of an air pistol, was recovered from inside 40A Muirhead Avenue. The knife was never recovered.
“It is the prosecution case that Paul Foster’s death was a direct consequence of a drug taxing where he was living and dealing drugs. It is the prosecution case that Michael Fields drove the offenders to the scene, that Sarah Kasseum was present at the scene and acted as a decoy by posing as someone who intended to purchase drugs from Paul Foster.
“But she was there for an entirely different purpose, that being to facilitate access to the flat for the purpose of the taxing that was to take place. Thereafter, the males went in, Michael Fields, Elsadig Abrahim, Zayd Alasaly and Dylan Blundell. They went in to do their business armed with weapons, a knife and an imitation firearm.
“The prosecution case is that all five defendants went to 40A Muirhead Avenue to rob Paul Foster of his drugs and money. They went mob handed. They were armed with a knife and an imitation firearm. The prosecution case is that they shared a common purpose, and that common purpose was, without a doubt, to rob Paul Foster and, if it came to it, and, sadly, it did, to commit murder.
“Was the stabbing of Paul Foster within the scope of a joint enterprise if the need arose? That will be a question that you will grapple with. The prosecution case is that it obviously was, and it will be necessary for you to consider, individually, what the intentions of each of the defendants was in this case.
“The prosecution case is that, whilst the defendants went to rob Paul Foster, they did so in the knowledge that, if it got on top, they could resort to using the weapons that they had, that were in their joint possession, to wound or to inflict grievous bodily harm with intent. The knife was not a toy, members of the jury.”
Jurors were told that Blundell, of Corsewall Street in Wavertree, was earlier seen getting into the back of the Kia at Asda on Smithdown Road shortly after 9pm on October 14 2024 before being observed in a change of clothing around half an hour after the stabbing in the early hours of the following morning. On February 20 last year, the 26-year-old was said to have told his probation officer that he had “seen some things that he was carrying guilt for” and was “under threat as a result”.
Mr McLachlan said of this: “He disclosed that he was present at the time of the murder but was not an active participant. He discussed how an individual named Sarah Kasseum lured, to use his word, the victim into opening the door and how, in the days after, she was tasked with watching over Dylan Blundell, in order to make sure he did not put a foot out of line.
“He went on to say that, once the victim allowed Sarah Kasseum, into the property, he and other individuals involved entered. He disclosed two individuals were carrying weapons, one named Michael Fields and another he only referred to as a Muslim lad.
“He stated one weapon appeared to be a weapon with a shield, and, by that, we think he meant a sheath, so a cover for the blade, and he stated that he thought that the police had this and was pleased about this as ‘none of my evidence is on it’. Dylan Blundell also stated there was also an air pistol present, which had been stolen from a male named Tony Conroy.
Under interview in October 2025, Blundell said in a prepared statement that he “was not aware it was anyone’s intention to inflict serious injury” upon Mr Foster and told detectives: “I do know who stabbed him. His name is Zayd. I do not know his last name. He is the male who chased me into B&M last year, which police are aware of. I am terrified of repercussions to myself and my family, and so have been reluctant to advance this information previously.”
Mr McLachlan added at the conclusion of the prosecution’s opening: “The prosecution case is that they had a common purpose. The common purpose, say the prosecution, of all five defendants was to rob Paul Foster, and they went to 40A Muirhead Avenue mob handed, so that the female defendant, Sarah Kasseum, posing as a lone female might trick their victim, Paul Foster, into allowing them entrance to communal parts of the block of flats.
“Once that had been done, once access had been gained, the four male defendants wearing balaclavas or face coverings could then force their way into the flat to rob their victim. The prosecution case is that all five of the defendant not only knew of their existence but took with them and were armed with both an imitation firearm and also a knife in order to carry out the robbery.
“A knife, you may think, because an imitation firearm is just that, an imitation. If the pretence that you have a gun fails, you need something else, a real weapon with which to backup your threats and overcome and overpower your victim. That is what, collectively, they had.
“Undoubtedly one of the defendants in this case, say the prosecution, not only had but used a knife to stab Paul Foster in the course of the robbery. It is the prosecution case, but it will be a matter entirely for you, that it is inconceivable that all the defendants did not know that both an imitation firearm and a knife were being carried for use in this robbery and, importantly, if it came to it, and, sadly it did, the knife would be used with an intent, at the very least, to cause really serious harm to their intended victim. That, in fact, is what happened in this case.
“The prosecution submit that it would be perfectly proper for you to draw the following inference from the evidence, the inference that they all knew about both the imitation firearm and the knife and that, if met with any resistance, the knife would be used and that really serious harm would be done to Paul Foster, which, sadly, it was.”
Blundell, of Corsewall Street in Wavertree, 61-year-old Abrahim, of Croxteth Road in Toxteth, 23-year-old Alasaly, of Corinto Street in Toxteth, 41-year-old Kasseum, of Lower Breck Road in Anfield and 50-year-old Fields, of no fixed address, all deny murder and possession of a bladed article in a public place. Abrahim, Alasaly and Kasseum have also pleaded not guilty to robbery and carrying an imitation firearm with intent to commit an offence, although Blundell and Fields admit these counts.
Fields has similarly pleaded guilty to manslaughter. The trial, before Judge Simon Medland KC, continues, and is expected to last for five to six weeks.
