Glasgow thug stabbed his lawyer, 71, in office during horror murder bid

A knife thug tried to kill his lawyer in his office in a horror murder bid.

Esaya Neguse attacked Muhammad Shoaib leaving the 71 year-old fearing he was going to die.

Two colleagues bravely tackled the 37 year-old before passing police caught sight of the struggle at MS Solicitors in Glasgow's south side on September 21, 2022.

Mr Shoaib - a former Alba party council election candidate - fortunately survived having been stabbed in the chest.

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Neguse initially stood trial at the High Court in Glasgow accused of attempted murder.

But, after Mr Shoaib testified reliving his ordeal to jurors, Neguse pleaded guilty to the charge yesterday. He will be sentenced next month.

The court heard how the lawyer was at work that afternoon when Neguse turned up unannounced at the office in the city's Victoria Road.

Mr Shoaib still agreed to see him. Neguse followed him into his room.

The victim expected Neguse to take a seat, but instead he stood next to him and stated: "Muhammad, are you ok?".

The assailant then whipped out a kitchen knife from his pocket.

Mr Shoaib told jurors: "He started attacking towards my neck, then for a second time on my chest. I had to put my hand out to stop him."

The solicitor recalled Neguse mumbling something.

The victim added: "The blood was coming out my chest. It was like a shower of blood."

Mr Shoaib desperately screamed on his colleagues - fellow lawyer Muhammed Ibrahim and legal secretary Amin Syed - for help.

They got Neguse out of the room as he still clung onto the knife. The victim meantime managed to dial 999.

Mr Shoaib: "I thought I was going to die. The whole floor was filled up with my blood. I was panicking."

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CCTV footage showed Mr Ibrahim and My Syed - who were headbutted and bit by Neguse - deciding to drag the attacker out onto the street to attract the attention of police stopped at traffic lights.

The men yelled: "He has got a knife and he has stabbed him."

Neguse eventually let go of the weapon which had a blade of up to 6-inches.

The court heard Mr Shoaib suffered a stab wound to his chest. He was able to leave hospital after treatment.

Neguse - from Eritrea in East Africa and who already had a number of convictions - also pleaded guilty yesterday to five other charges.

These were assaulting Mr Shoaib's colleagues, having a knife in a public place, behaving in a threatening manner and spitting on a police officer.

Lord Colbeck remanded him in custody as sentencing was deferred for reports.

After the stabbing of Mr Shoaib, former First Minister and Alba Party leader Alex Salmond said at the time he was "deeply upset with the news of the attack".

Mr Shoaib had previously stood in the 2022 council elections as the Alba candidate for the city's Pollokshields ward.

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