A 16-year-old boy has been convicted of murder after fatally stabbing a man during a robbery in Cheltenham just before Christmas. The verdict was reached by a jury on Monday, 27 July, at Bristol Crown Court, concluding the trial concerning the death of Hamid Erfani.
Mr Erfani, who was in his 40s, died after being stabbed in an alleyway between Larput Place and St Paul’s Road on the afternoon of 16 December 2025. The teenager, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was 15 at the time of the incident. Another 17-year-old boy was also involved and had admitted to separate charges of robbery and possession of a bladed article.
The court heard that the two boys did not know Mr Erfani personally but were aware that he was involved in drug dealing. They targeted him in the alleyway, demanding money and drugs at knifepoint. Mr Erfani did not resist and handed over the items along with a mobile phone. After the robbery, the boys fled the scene, discarding their knives as they ran.
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Police later discovered the murder weapon in bushes near Leisure at Cheltenham.
During the trial, defence counsel Charles Rowe KC argued that the 17-year-old had acted in self-defence, stating that Mr Erfani had lunged at the boys following the robbery. However, prosecutor Anna Vigars KC countered, noting that Mr Erfani was unarmed and had offered no resistance except to beg the boys not to take his mobile phone.
She described the stabbing as “a deliberate act done for no reason that anyone could see – an act of brutality, to reinforce the fact that [the boy] was not one to be messed with, to ensure that his name was not reported in connection with the robbery that they had just committed.”
Both teenagers remain in custody and are scheduled to be sentenced at Bristol Crown Court on Tuesday, 8 September.