Imaddeen Sayed: Man who killed stranger in Landsdale petrol station machete attack weeps on witness stand

A man who killed a stranger with a machete at a Perth petrol station has wept at his trial, insisting he “just panicked” when the victim punched his brother and had only been holding the blade to scare him. Imaddeen Sayed, 29, attacked Atbin Razavianroudbarden outside Landsdale 7-Eleven on the afternoon of July 6, 2023, completely cutting through his collarbone and first rib, and causing one of his lungs to partially collapse. Sayed testified at his Supreme Court of WA murder trial on Thursday, when he detailed what was going through his mind as shocking CCTV footage was replayed. It showed an escalating confrontation in the forecourt between the 22-year-old and the accused’s sibling Ershaad Sayed as a customer watched on while filling his car, as people inside the shop appeared oblivious to the mayhem outside. The accused man said he had been at home after work when his brother called him asking to come help, saying “someone was trying to run him off the road”. Mr Sayed said his brother was speaking fast and sounded panicked - and he was known to be in such a state after testifying against a murder accused in a trial some 12 years earlier. That person was acquitted, and “break ins, attacks, assaults”, even a firebombing of his family home, then followed. Mr Sayed he could hear yelling and his four-year-old niece crying in the background of the phone call. “He was begging me to come down. “I responded by telling him to leave ... just get away from the situation.” He said he jumped into his Jeep and his brother made a second “erratic” sounding call on the short journey there. “He just said ‘he’s got a weapon’. It hit me like a tonne of bricks,” Mr Sayed said. “All I could think was ‘not again’. “I was really scared for my niece and my brother. I just had to be there and make sure they were ok.” Mr Sayed said he hurriedly parked his car blocking other vehicles from exiting, and the footage showed him run up as the men menaced each other, initially holding the machete behind his back. A concreter, he said the blade was in his Jeep for cutting roots that day, but he had no other work tools in there. “They were arguing. He (the deceased) had his face right in my brother’s face and it looked like it was going to escalate,” Mr Sayed testified. While the footage showed the victim backing up, Mr Sayed claimed he was making goading and threatening comments, including towards the child, and boasted about being skilled in martial arts. Defence lawyer Tom Percy KC asked his client what led him to strike. “When he punched my brother to the side of his head ... he was under attack,” Mr Sayed said. “I didn’t have time to think. “I didn’t realise how hard I hit him. “I just wanted to protect my brother. “It just happened so fast. “It was just a reaction, an instinct. I didn’t realise what I did until after.” Mr Sayed broke down in tears after admitting he should have stayed at the scene and called triple-zero, rather than fleeing. Asked why he did that, he replied: “I was scared”. “I’m so sorry,” he said. From the public gallery came: “Sorry is not going to bring my brother back”. The court was told Mr Sayed shaved his head and the weapon has never been found.