Andrew Jefferson, 52, stabbed Turkish shopkeeper in unprovoked attack
Screamed ‘you f****** foreigners coming to the UK to poison British people’
He then slashed Hilmi Uludag with a kitchen knife across the neck and arm
Jefferson was held by Mr Uludag’s colleagues and arrested by police
Mr Uludag needed stitches and ‘glue’ to the neck after savage assault
Now been found guilty of attempted murder and will be sentenced in April
By KEILIGH BAKER FOR MAILONLINE
This is the horrific moment a thug slashed a Turkish shopkeeper’s neck with a kitchen knife and shouted ‘you f*****g foreigners, coming to the UK to poison the British people’.
Andrew Jefferson, 52, of no fixed abode, screamed the abuse at Hilmi Uludag before stabbing him at Padiciya Wine in Paddington, London, on October 18 last year.
Jefferson had apparently chosen his victim at random and can be seen calmly walking around the till before brutally stabbing the shopkeeper in the neck and arm.
Mr Uladag said the assailant left him with slashes to his neck, chin and leg.
Southwark Crown Court heard the wounds severed the nerves in his face and he was lucky to survive the frenzied attack. He was also left with injuries to his leg from falling on broken glass.
Police attended the scene and arrested Jefferson, who had been detained in the shop by Mr Uludag’s colleagues.
Turkish national Mr Uludag told the court he had sold Jefferson two cans of beer between 10.30 and 11.00 that evening.
‘He said nothing, no words at all,’ said Mr Uludag. ‘He didn’t even say a word, he took the bag he was just looking at me, not even one word and he just walked out.’
Two hours later Jefferson returned with the small black-handled kitchen knife stuffed up his jumper and walked behind the counter of the shop before he attacked his victim.
Mr Uludag grabbed Jefferson’s arms as he desperately fought him off and the two men crashed to the floor.
He said: ‘That is the time I realise this guy’s serious, he wants to kill me, he wanted to take my head off.’
‘I was screaming, I was saying ‘I have been stabbed, I have been stabbed’,’ Mr Uluday told jurors.
‘He was saying ‘you f*****g foreigners, coming to the UK to poison the British people’.’
Mr Uludag was bandaged on the street before being taken to St Mary’s Hospital in Paddington – where Jefferson had also been taken after the unprovoked attack.
‘I remember I was just laying down because I was feeling really weak and at the same time very frightened because we both went to the same hospital,’ said Mr Uludag.
Mr Uludag needed seven stitches and ‘glue’ to the neck after the savage assault.
His nerves were severed from a cut to the chin and he remains unsure if they will grow again.
‘For two months I couldn’t even eat because my lips, my mouth, everywhere was numb,’ he said.
He was also slashed from the ankle to the knee, there may still be glass inside his leg and he said he is ‘hardly walking’.
‘My little toe is still numb and I want to know what I have done to deserve all this,’ Mr Uludag said.
Jefferson was found guilty of attempted murder yesterday after jurors deliberated for less than a day.
He had previously admitted the lesser charge of wounding with intent.
He will be sentenced on April 22.
Detective Constable Graham Hillsdon of Westminster CID said: ‘The men showed extreme bravery by tackling the knifeman while their colleague called the police, and holding him until officers arrived minutes later.
‘If it wasn’t for these men, Jefferson may have gone on to kill or seriously injure someone else that night.’