'Quiet, calm and gentle': Thavisha Lakindu Peiris, 25, was stabbed to
death as he made his final pizza delivery. He was due to start his
career as an IT consultant
A pizza delivery driver about to start a new career was stabbed
through the heart by two thugs trying to steal his mobile phone, a court
heard.
University graduate Thavisha Lakindu Peiris was stabbed
repeatedly in his car as he made the final delivery of his shift on
October 27 last year.
'Quiet, calm and gentle' Mr Peiris - who had
been persuaded to carry out a final delivery before clocking off - had
moved from Sri Lanka in November 2011 to study economic engineering at
Sheffield Hallam University.
He was about to start a new career in
IT technology before he was stabbed to death in Sheffield, South
Yorkshire, a jury was told.
Shamraze Khan, 26, appeared at
Sheffield Crown Court today charged with his murder, while Kasim Ahmed,
18, has already pleaded guilty to the charge.
Robert Smith QC, prosecuting, said it was a ‘joint enterprise’ motivated by robbery.'The
prosecution submit that the defendant Shamraze Khan and another man,
Kasim Ahmed, were jointly responsible for the murder of Thavisha
Peiris,' he said.
He added: 'Thavisha was chosen as a target for
robbery by Khan and Ahmed, just as they had selected the couple only an
hour or so beforehand.
'The mobile phone had clearly been their target.'
The prosecutor told the jury: 'By October last year that Mr Peiris was due to start work in the field of information technology.
'He was never able to use his studies to
his advantage to take up work in his chosen sphere, or to return to Sri
Lanka, because he was stabbed to death.'
with his father Sarath Mahinda Peiris (second left) and mother Sudarma
Narangoda (second right)
Sheffield and was delivering an order to an address in Southey. When he
failed to deliver the order, his workmates set off to find him
The jury heard that barely an hour before the pair left Thavisha in a
pool of blood at the wheel of his car as they attempted to rob his
mobile phone, they had already robbed a young couple in Sheffield city
centre.
Both Ahmed and Khan accept being responsible for that knifepoint robbery in which mobile phones were also stolen.
Mr
Smith said: 'Regardless of which defendant was actually responsible for
inflicting the fatal stab wound [on Thavisha], they were both jointly
involved in the attack and each is guilty of the offence of murder.'
The court heard the pizza delivery driver had pulled up to deliver an order when he was fatally attacked.
His phone was found in his car - where it had been yanked from its windscreen holder.
A post-mortem examination revealed he had been stabbed once in his neck and three times in his chest - puncturing his heart.
Mr
Smith QC told jurors two gloves with Mr Peiris’ blood on were found in
Khan’s home - while Khan’s palm print was also found on the roof of
Thavisha’s car.
because he was tired, the court heard. But his manager asked Thavisha if
he would take one more order
'Khan and Ahmed had planned to commit offences of robbery and about
an hour or so before the attack, they had jointly committed an offence
of robbery involving two young people at Castle Market, in Sheffield.
'During this offence Ahmed had produced a knife and injured one of the two people in question.
'After
the robbery the defendants returned to the home of Khan, where they
were both living, but they went out again and decided to rob Thavisha
while he was trying to deliver a pizza.'
The court heard that the
vicitm had worked until 7am on the morning of his death, and had
returned to start another shift later that evening.
Mr Smith said that at 8.40pm, Mr Peiris asked his manager at Domino’s Pizza if he could go home because he was tired.
But
his manager asked if he would take one more order, which was to the
Southey Green part of Sheffield as well as one other order. He left the
pizza outlet at 9.50pm, the court heard.
Mr Smith said that, while
nobody actually witnessed the attack, an eyewitness saw two men in
hoods stood around his car, looking in the driver’s window shortly
before the attack.
Other eyewitnesses saw two men running away from the murder scene in the direction of Khan’s flat, the court heard.
One resident described the pair running at a 'hell of a pace', the jury heard.
'The
prosecution contend that these were the defendants,' said Mr Smith. Mr
Peiris' dead body was eventually discovered by a colleague.
'He opened the passenger door and touched Thavisha’s arm, but he didn’t move,' said Mr Smith.
'At
that point he noticed there was blood on Thavisha’s shirt and blood in
the car.' Paramedics were called but Thavisha died at hospital, the
court heard.
Speaking about the pathologists’ findings, Mr Smith
said: 'There was a stab wound in the left side of the neck which had
passed through Thavisha’s spine.
'In the central area of the chest, there was another wound which had penetrated the heart.'
The court also heard that there were stab wounds to his ribs, as well as superficial stab wounds to his face and hands.
Following
the killing both defendants went to the home of Ahmed’s father, and
alluded to family members that something serious had happened - but did
not reveal what it was, the court heard.
Three days later, Ahmed
was discovered by police in a storage area in his girlfriend’s house and
Khan discovered hiding in the loft of his parents’ house.
Ahmed has already admitted two counts of robbery, which Khan also admits.
The trial continues.
