Fife: Restaurant worker who killed colleague is detained at Carstairs

Abdul Foyez killed Mohammed Salim Uddin, 44, by knifing him in the chest at the Gulshan Tandoori in Inverkeithing.

However, he was acquitted of murder and made subject to an interim compulsion order after the Crown accepted that he was suffering from diminished mental responsibility at the time of the offence.

Forensic psychiatrist Dr Sheila Howitt, 37, who is treating Foyez in a secure unit at Carstairs, said he had extremely limited insight into his mental illness.

She said the homicide of Mr Uddin was in response to paranoid delusions imagined by Foyez that he was being persecuted by the Mafia and that his friend was trying to kill him by poisoning him.

She said he believed he was being persecuted by the Bangladeshi community, of which he was part, and had moved from London to Scotland two weeks before the murder because he thought it would be a safer place.

Abdul Foyez has been made subject to compulsory treatment and detained at the State Hospital in Carstairs. (Image: NQ staff)

In the absence of appropriate treatment – specifically anti-psychotic medication – she said he’d pose a risk to others.

She explained: “He thought the Bangladeshi community was against him. He thought people were working with sources like the Mafia and he had wider delusions and persecuting beliefs.

“He’d not been eating for some period of time due to concerns that his food was being interfered with and he’d lost weight.

“In my opinion Mr Foyez could perpetrate further such attacks in the future if he weren’t to receive treatment. Such attacks could once again prove fatal.

“There is also a risk to his own welfare. When I first saw him in custody his self-care was very poor.”

The fatal stabbing of Mohammed Salim Uddin took place at Gulshan Tandoori Restaurant in Inverkeithing. (Image: Google)

She said Foyez, 28, did not believe he was suffering from paranoid schizophrenia, the mental disorder with which he had been diagnosed, and didn’t accept he had to take anti-psychotic medication.

It was her expert opinion that if he remained at liberty his mental condition would deteriorate, putting those around him at significant risk of serious injury including death, and therefore a restriction order was indicated and necessary.

After hearing her evidence at the High Court in Livingston today (Monday, March 6), judge Lord Lake confirmed the compulsion order and made Foyez subject to a restriction order.

He commented: “It seems to me he does present a risk to the public at large. It’s a high risk.”

The court was told that other restaurant workers rushed to Mr Uddin’s aid after they heard him shouting: “Help me, save my life!” on September 17, 2021.

They saw Foyez clutching a large kitchen knife in his hand with his apron covered in blood.

He appeared “angry” and ran out of the restaurant while other staff dialled 999 and tried to stop the bleeding.

Mr Uddin suffered a deep wound in his abdomen. He was rushed into an ambulance but became unresponsive and was later pronounced dead at Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy.

Foyez fled the scene and dumped the knife but was bravely confronted by two men, who alerted police.

Prosecutor Alan Parfery told how Foyez had moved to Fife two weeks before the killing and stayed with Mr Uddin, originally from Bangladesh, at a bedsit.

The pair were working that afternoon at the restaurant, along with others. They were said to be in “good spirits” as they helped staff carry in supplies but that suddenly changed.

Mr Parfery said Mr Uddin had died from a single stab wound which cut into his liver.

A delivery driver meanwhile spotted Foyez on the street looking “agitated” and still armed.

Two other men in a car also saw him and decided to follow.

He was seen initially putting the knife on a wall before picking it up and eventually ditching it in a bin at Inverkeithing train station.

Mr Parfery said: “The men got out and approached Foyez. They told him to sit down and put his hands behind his back. Police attended and arrested him.”