'You pose a serious risk': Knifeman tried to stab friend to death in Walsall in laptop row

Tanvir Poselay stabbed Alexander Williams in the back with a kitchen knife in a row over a missing laptop.

Mr Williams was left with at least nine deep wounds following the attack in his own home in West Bromwich Street. He also suffered a collapsed lung as well as cuts to his kidneys and spleen and slashed wrists and arms as he tried to defend himself.

Poselay, of Jerome Street, Walsall, was branded a 'dangerous offender' by Judge James Burbidge, who noticed he had seen the 26-year-old smirking throughout the three-day trial at Wolverhampton Crown Court earlier this year.

Judge Burbidge said: "I have listened and I have watched you. You are not without intelligence but you seem serene in your attitude to the proceedings.

"I even watched you smile during the trial. It is a concern for me and I am of the clear impression you are a dangerous offender. You pose a serious risk of causing serious personal injury in the future."

Poselay admitted stabbing his former flat mate on January 8 of this year but denied intending to kill him. However, he was found guilty of attempted murder and sentenced to 13 years in prison with a further three years on licence this week.

On the day of the attack, Poselay went to Mr Williams's bedsit and the pair ate pasta and watched a film together. However, he then raised the issue of an alleged stolen laptop, which Mr Williams denied taking and claimed anti-terrorist police had seized it.

Upon leaving, Poselay grabbed a kitchen knife from inside his jacket and thrust it into Mr Williams's back.

He continued to slash away, stabbing him at least nine times, before fleeing the scene and burning his clothes in the garden of his home.

Judge Burbidge added: "Frankly, without the skill of those who attended to him, his life was in serious danger.

"He was clearly adversely affected at least psychologically from the injuries. Although he looked like he was making a good recovery."

It emerged during the sentencing hearing at Birmingham Crown Court this week that Poselay had a previous conviction for possessing an offensive weapon in 2007. On the date of the attempted murder, he was serving a 15-month suspended sentence for hitting a man over the head with a machete in 2013.