Student gets life for murdering his friend in a drunken rage

A university student was told he would be jailed for life yesterday for murdering a doctor's son in a drunken rage. Saif Mahmood, 21, was stabbed 80 times by Adam Davies, 20, in the flat they shared near the grounds of Brunel University, west London.

Mr Mahmood, who had studied psychology at the university, died almost immediately from one of the first wounds which penetrated his heart. Davies continued lunging at the body of his friend with two knives, turning the flat in Uxbridge into a blood-bath this year.

The court was told the friends fell out after a university party in January this year, where they drank a bottle of scotch and a bottle of tequila between them. Davies, a student of English and history who grew up in Canterbury, Kent, denied the killing, claiming the two men were attacked by a gang of robbers.

A jury failed to agree a verdict in October, but yesterday a second jury at the Old Bailey found him guilty by a 10-2 majority.

Judge David Paget remanded Davies in custody till 23 January for reports to help him fix a recommended minimum which has to be served before Davies can be eligible for parole.

Michael Worsley QC, for the prosecution, said both men had been drinking and were drunk when they left a party in a hall of residence a few hours before.

He said it was a "frenzied attack" which had been committed in a "drunken rage". Mr Mahmood "had been savagely stabbed some 80 times" all over his body, Mr Worsley said.

He added: "They were friends. From time to time they used to argue and get into heated arguments."

Neighbours were woken in the early hours by noise from the flat above. Leigh Craddock said that Davies was covered in blood and told her he had killed his friend.

She said: "He was behaving like a madman. He had his face in the grass, screaming, pulling his hair, wrestling himself on the floor."

Later, Davies told police he was held at knifepoint while his friend was killed after two masked men came to the flat to steal money. Both men's blood- alcohol levels showed they had been drinking heavily.

Mr Mahmood's mother, from Brent, north London, broke down in tears after the jury returned its verdict.