Zayd Alasaly had ‘not entered the police radar at all’ until co-defendant Dylan Blundell told detectives what he had done
19:00, 21 May 2026
DCI Steve McGrath speaking to the ECHO outside Liverpool Crown Court(Image: Liverpool ECHO)
A murder investigation reached a dramatic breakthrough when the killer who stabbed a grandad to death was named by one of his accomplices. Detectives probing the fatal stabbing of 47-year-old Paul Foster had been unaware of Zayd Alasaly’s involvement for nearly a year afterwards.
But, with co-defendant Dylan Blundell having then reported seeing the 24-year-old knifing the victim in the back during a second round of interviews 12 months on from the robbery gone wrong, officers were able to establish his presence at the scene via cell siting data. This led to him being convicted of murder this week and jailed for life with a minimum term of 30 years.
Michael Fields, who drove the gang who “taxed” Mr Foster of drugs and money to the flat on Muirhead Avenue in West Derby in his Kia Ceed Motability car in the early hours of October 15, 2024, and was said to have handed Alasaly the knife, was also found guilty and handed the same sentence. Blundell, Elsadig Abrahim and Sarah Kasseum were meanwhile convicted of manslaughter and locked up for 16, 18 and 17 years respectively.
The former’s counsel Christopher Stables told Liverpool Crown Court during today’s sentencing: “The police investigation in this case had proceeded for a year by the time of the second interviews for all of the defendants on the 8th of October 2025. The investigation was a year old. To that point, there were four suspects, in Sarah Kasseum and the three male defendants, but not Zayd Alasaly.
“This defendant identified Zayd Alasaly in his prepared statement, provided in that second interview. That was at a time when Zayd Alasaly had not entered the police radar at all. Zayd Alasaly was completely unknown to the investigation up until that point.
Zayd Alasaly(Image: Merseyside Police)
“Of course, then, intelligence was considered and evidence was obtained. The cell site evidence revealed that Alasaly’s phone followed the movements of the Kia Ceed on the night in question.
“This defendant went beyond that. He gave evidence to the same effect, evidence that was plainly accepted by the jury. His actions led directly to the conviction of the principal defendant.
“In doing this, Dylan Blundell exposed himself to very significant intimidation and threats, both before and during the trial, virtually on a daily basis in travelling to and from the court building. Your honour will readily accept that that position will continue indefinitely.
“It is difficult to see what Dylan Blundell could have done beyond what he did. It is difficult to see what more he could have done and what more he could have achieved, in terms of delivering to justice the man who wielded the knife and was unknown to the police for the first year of the investigation.”
Dylan Blundell, 27, of no fixed abode(Image: Merseyside Police)
This account ultimately resulted in Judge Simon Medland KC discounting the sentence Blundell would have otherwise received by two years. Detective Chief Inspector Steve McGrath of Merseyside Police’s major crime unit told the ECHO of his evidence following this morning’s hearing: “It was a significant piece of information for us.
“You never know, really, when you’re investigating a case like this, how many people are responsible, how many people are involved. Sometimes, you don’t quite know how much people are involved until you finally get to court. Your suspects open up and start speaking.
“More often than not now, we’re faced with no comment interviews. Even with Dylan Blundell, we faced that to a degree in the early stages of the investigation. Once there was mention of a fifth person in the car, it took the investigation in a slightly different direction.
“I think one of the main issues for the jury and one of the difficulties that they had to wrestle with was the competing accounts that were given during the trial. Obviously, the investigation itself produced a lot of material around the movements of our offenders.
“It was very limited in relation to what actually took place outside the front door of that flat that night, exactly who did what and when, who struck the fatal blow. Obviously, during the trial, the suspects themselves provided evidence to the jury, and it was on that basis that I think a lot of the decisions were made and the guilty verdicts were delivered.”
The sentencing saw an outburst of emotion from Mr Foster’s family, with one woman shouting “go die in jail you dirty little rat” and another adding “good luck in there” as Alasaly and Fields were led to the cells. It came at the conclusion of an arduous six-week trial, during which his loved ones were present each and every day.
Paul Foster died after being stabbed in a flat on Muirhead Avenue in West Derby(Image: Merseyside Police)
DCI McGrath added: “They’ve been really patient. I’ve thanked the family for their support for the investigation team and the family liaison officers, and also the patience all the way through the investigation and the trial.
“They’ve behaved impeccably throughout the trial. Obviously, there were some comments today that we heard in court, but, when you think about what the family have been through, it’s quite difficult to withhold everything for that period of time, especially when you’ve gone through a trial that’s been lasting almost six weeks.
“I’ve never been through what they’ve had to go through, where they’re sitting across a room from people who have been involved in the murder and manslaughter of someone who’s so close to them, whether it be a brother or a son or uncle. It must be extremely difficult for them to not say anything, especially when people are getting sentenced.”