Two men found guilty over knife attack on journalist in UK for Iranian regime
The victim was a journalist critical of the Iranian regime who had appeared on “Wanted: dead or alive” posters in Tehran.
Two men have been found guilty of stabbing a journalist outside his home in south west London under the orders of the Iranian regime.
Listen to this article
Pouria Zeraati is a journalist at the Persian-language broadcaster Iran International, which is critical of the Iranian government. The station has been subject to threats from the Iranian regime which classes it as a terrorist organisation.
Mr Zeraati's attackers, Romanian nationals Nandito Badea, 21, and George Stana, 25, attacked him as he walked to his car outside his home in Wimbledon on March 29, 2024.
Another man called David Andrei, who is still in Romania and was not on trial, was also part of the attack, according to the victim.
Prosecutors said it was “a planned attack preceded by reconnaissance, and which was ordered by a third party acting on behalf of the Iranian state”.
Read more: Man pleads guilty to 'hostile reconnaissance' in terror plot with Manchester synagogue attacker
Read more: Teen thugs, 15 and 18, found guilty of murdering rival gang member, 16, in beach stabbing
Both men, who had denied charges, were found guilty of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and are to be sentenced at the Old Bailey on July 3.
Kris Wright, of Counter Terrorism Policing, told LBC the conviction "sent a strong message to those that seek to perpetrate violence in UK shores."
He denied that the third suspect was at large, and confirmed there was "somebody missing from our conviction today because he's subject to detention and domestic Romanian prosecution. We will work tirelessly with our partners when that process is concluded to bring him to justice here in the UK."
Mr Zeraati was a high-profile face of Iran International, a competitor of the state broadcaster which the Iranian regime designated as a terrorist organisation and branded “a network of spies”, Woolwich Crown Court heard.
He had appeared, along with other journalists, on “Wanted: dead or alive” posters that were put up in the Iranian capital Tehran.
He was attacked by two men – Badea and Andrei – as he walked to his car in Queensmere Road.
Badea wielded the knife while Stana waited in a blue Mazda 3 getaway car.
All three then flew from Heathrow Airport to Geneva hours after the stabbing.
In court Badea and Stana said they were surprised by the stabbing and claimed Andrei was the real culprit.
Badea believed he was only there to keep an eye on a man said to be having an affair with another man’s wife, while Stana said he thought the victim might get slapped or have his watch stolen.
But prosecutor Duncan Atkinson KC said all three men had acted as a team and carried out “extensive surveillance and reconnaissance”, got a getaway car, and “had clearly made their plans”.
He said: “They had not devoted so much time to surveillance for a robbery, but for the targeted knife attack that in fact then happened.“
The prosecution say that the attack which was committed by two assailants and a getaway driver, was preceded by reconnaissance, and was ordered by a third party.
Badea claimed Andrei had told him to approach Mr Zeraati and ask for money but he then came up from behind and stabbed the journalist.
The former midfielder, who played for Romanian teams Astra and Blejoi, came to England to do construction work after his professional football career ended.
Badea said the building work in England he was promised never materialised, but he told jurors he had “never done any violence in my life” and “I did not know that someone was going to be hurt or a robbery would take place”.
Badea said he had “no idea” Mr Zeraati was a campaigning journalist.
During his evidence, Stana said “it was a big surprise” when two men he drove from the scene said there had been a stabbing.
The plan was to approach this man, slap him a few times to tell him to stop sleeping with someone’s wife and take his watch, according to the former decorator.
The defendants’ presence in the UK, including the cost of the ongoing hostile surveillance, was funded by others including a company called Hemroc Ltd and via Stana’s sister’s Revolut account, the prosecution said.
The first “hostile surveillance” took place outside Mr Zeraati’s address on March 1 2023, the court heard.
Stana said he was paid to “scare” someone by puncturing their car tyres and smashing the windows with a cricket bat.
He had latex gloves, a pair of scissors and a mask when he was arrested in the street, shortly after having been in the rear garden of Mr Zeraati’s block of flats in Queensmere Road with another man.
Badea, Stana and Andrei fled to Geneva, Switzerland, after the stabbing.
They ordered a taxi using the Bolt app, initially setting the drop-off location as Tottenham, then adjusting it to Luton, and finally Heathrow Airport.
The blue Mazda was later found abandoned in New Malden, south-west London.
Iran International was based in Chiswick until February 2023, when threats made against the network, its employees and their families led to it relocating temporarily to Washington DC.
After the verdict, Chief Superintendent Kris Wright, head of protective security operations for Counter Terrorism Policing London, said: “This was a targeted and violent attack and it was the prosecution’s case during the trial that it was carried out on behalf of the Iranian regime.
“The suspects immediately left the UK thinking they would be safe and could evade justice, but thanks to the incredible investigation by the team here and working closely with our international partners, we’ve shown that we will do everything to come after people who commit these offences and that there is nowhere to hide.”