This is the moment a killer burst into tears as he was arrested on suspicion of murder at West Allerton Station. Dylan Blundell was cleared of murdering Paul Foster but convicted of his manslaughter, with the 47-year-old victim having been stabbed to death by a balaclava clad “mob” in a robbery gone wrong.

Known as “Pablo”, he suffered a single stab wound to the back during the “taxing” at a flat on Muirhead Avenue in West Derby in the early hours of October 15 2024. His attackers were said to have been “tooled up” with a knife and an imitation firearm as they stole a quantity of drugs and cash before fleeing.

Co-defendants Zayd Alasaly and Michael Fields were found guilty of his murder following a trial at Liverpool Crown Court and were each handed life sentences with a minimum term of 30 years behind bars today, Thursday. Blundell was meanwhile jailed for 16 years, with Elsadig Abrahim and Sarah Kasseum receiving 18 and 17 years behind bars respectively after they were also convicted of manslaughter.

Merseyside Police have now released footage from the body worn cameras of officers showing each of their arrests. One clip shows Blundell being detained on suspicion of murder at West Allerton Station shortly before 9pm on November 24 2024, appearing in a highly emotional and tearful state near to the entrance while asking to go to hospital.

Jurors were played the full video of his arrest during the trial, in which the 26-year-old, of Corsewall Street in Wavertree, could be heard telling officers that he had “got battered” in Toxteth and was hearing voices in his head, adding “I’m just seeing my little boy’s face”. Asked why he had blood on his trousers, he went on to state that he had sustained a cut to his hand after “getting followed by this lad for most of the night, three of them” and was heard to reference “machetes” and “being called a grass”.

Shown this footage during his evidence, Blundell told the court that he “felt safer” in custody and added: “I was hearing voices. I was second guessing jumping in front of a train. I was crying.

“I got speaking to this man. I didn’t have a phone, so he called the ambulance service. Alls I could picture was my little boy. That’s what brought me up and caused me to ask for help. I’d been attacked like a day prior to it.”

Abrahim, of Croxteth Road in Toxteth, was meanwhile seen lying down on a bed as the 61-year-old was arrested on suspicion of murder, with 50-year-old Fields, of no fixed address, shown walking down a residential street clutching a Tesco bag for life as he was apprehended. Alasaly, of Corinto Street in Toxteth, meanwhile appeared emotionless as the 24-year-old was told by an officer in relation to Mr Foster’s death: “Lads have stormed into the house with weapons and killed him.”

Judge Simon Medland KC, who presided over the trial, said: “Drug dealer and criminal though he was, he had exactly the same right to life as anyone else. You had no right to deprive him of his life. It is clear that he had done nothing against either of you. He never threatened you or interfered with you in any way.

“The circumstances of Paul Foster’s death are appalling. They show that severe force was used to stab him. The knife completely cut through the sixth rib, penetrated the left lung and cut his aorta, the main artery of the body. He bled out onto the floor of the hallway of the flat.

“Paul Foster had done neither of you any harm. It is characteristic of the fundamental cowardice of criminals who carry knives that he was stabbed in the back. He never saw it coming. As Paul Foster lay dying, you and your accomplices went about the business of robbing him of his drugs and money, then escaped to your car.

“The life each of you led involved the degradation and filth which comes from taking and selling drugs. Class A drugs destroy people’s lives. They corrode society. They break up families.

“Neither of you have ever, so far as I can detect, ever done an honest day’s work. You have sold and consumed drugs and used weapons. Zayd Alasaly, you were a self confessed drug dealer. You profited from the misery you brought to your clients.

“I am quite clear that neither of you put even the tiniest value on Paul Foster’s life. He was simply someone from whom you stole. If he died in the process, so be it. His life was simply an expendable by-product of your violent, drug fuelled robbery.

“Your defence, Zayd Alasaly, was entirely unbelievable. You claimed not to have been present at all. The jury rejected this. It was unworthy of belief. The jury must have accepted Dylan Blundell’s evidence that you, Michael Fields, had the knife under your shirt and passed it to Zayd Alasaly, who stabbed Paul Foster with it.

“Because of your murderous actions, Paul Foster died. The severity of the force clearly implies the intent to kill. One stab wound, particularly one inflicted with severe force, is all it takes to kill. What is the purpose of stabbing with severe force a man in the back who is already overwhelmed by others, a man who had his back turned and posed no threat? The purpose can only have been to kill him.

“It is my assessment that Zayd Alasaly intended to kill and, by passing the knife to him, Michael Fields, intended that too, and assisted and encouraged him. You not only robbed Paul Foster of his drugs and money. You robbed him of his life.”

Later turning to Abrahim, Blundell and Kasseum, Judge Medland added: “Within a few minutes, Paul Foster was attacked, robbed and stabbed to death. You made your first task the smoking of more crack and the sharing of the spoils. I am satisfied that you, Elsadig Abrahim, disposed of the gun and the knife. Later, you, Sarah Kasseum, went for some late night refreshment of a pizza with Michael Fields.

“Each of you are habitual takers of class A drugs. Those substances destroy people’s lives. Each of you has harmed your health with them. None of you have made any positive contribution to society. You drift from one crackhouse to another and live on state benefits and crime. The public has been paying for your lifestyle, and none of you has put anything into society.

“Paul Foster was killed because of your drug infused lifestyle. It was a group action in the hours of darkness. Disguises were worn. A highly realistic imitation firearm was brought to the scene. The robbery persisted even when Paul Foster was bleeding to death. You all shared in the spoils.”