Michael Fields, who was jailed for life for the murder of Paul Foster, was dismissed from his role after a matter of days
A convicted murderer was sacked from his job as a charity collector after a matter of days after stealing donations intended for the homeless in order to buy drugs. Michael Fields was found guilty of the murder of Paul Foster and jailed for life with a minimum term of 30 years at Liverpool Crown Court yesterday, Thursday.
The 50-year-old was said to have handed the knife to co-defendant Zayd Alasaly who then stabbed their victim, who was known as “Pablo”, once in the back, killing him aged 47. He also drove fellow robbers Dylan Blundell, Elsadig Abrahim and Sarah Kasseum to the scene in his Kia Ceed Motability car as they raided a flat on Muirhead Avenue in West Derby in order to steal drugs and cash.
Fields, of no fixed address, previously told the jury during their trial that he had returned to his native Merseyside around two weeks prior to the “taxing” due to his mum having been admitted to hospital, having moved to Maidstone in Kent a year earlier while seeking a “fresh new start, to give his children a better life”. While down south, he went on to detail how he had been “doing a bit of charity work” by collecting donations for a community interest company called Homeless in Need UK.
But Judge Simon Medland KC remarked during yesterday’s hearing that Fields’ role only “lasted a few days”, adding: “You used it as a way to buy drugs and were sacked, having stolen contributions from members of the public. You lied your way to a Motability vehicle, provided at the public expense, by claiming leg trouble.
“On all of the CCTV we have watched during the trial, you were never seen limping, let alone using a walking stick. You used your Motability vehicle to help you lead your drug fuelled, twilight existence and to drive your co-accused to Muirhead Avenue so you could rob Paul Foster.”
Alasaly, of Corinto Street in Toxteth, was also convicted of murder, with the 24-year-old similarly being handed a 30-year life term. Judge Medland told him and Fields during his sentencing remarks: “Drug dealer and criminal though he was, he had exactly the same right to life as anyone else. You had no right to deprive him of his life. It is clear that he had done nothing against either of you. He never threatened you or interfered with you in any way.
“The circumstances of Paul Foster’s death are appalling. They show that severe force was used to stab him. The knife completely cut through the sixth rib, penetrated the left lung and cut his aorta, the main artery of the body. He bled out onto the floor of the hallway of the flat.
“Paul Foster had done neither of you any harm. It is characteristic of the fundamental cowardice of criminals who carry knives that he was stabbed in the back. He never saw it coming. As Paul Foster lay dying, you and your accomplices went about the business of robbing him of his drugs and money, then escaped to your car.
“The life each of you led involved the degradation and filth which comes from taking and selling drugs. Class A drugs destroy people’s lives. They corrode society. They break up families.
“Neither of you have ever, so far as I can detect, ever done an honest day’s work. You have sold and consumed drugs and used weapons. Zayd Alasaly, you were a self confessed drug dealer. You profited from the misery you brought to your clients.
“I am quite clear that neither of you put even the tiniest value on Paul Foster’s life. He was simply someone from whom you stole. If he died in the process, so be it. His life was simply an expendable by-product of your violent, drug fuelled robbery.
“Your defence, Zayd Alasaly, was entirely unbelievable. You claimed not to have been present at all. The jury rejected this. It was unworthy of belief. The jury must have accepted Dylan Blundell’s evidence that you, Michael Fields, had the knife under your shirt and passed it to Zayd Alasaly, who stabbed Paul Foster with it.
“Because of your murderous actions, Paul Foster died. The severity of the force clearly implies the intent to kill. One stab wound, particularly one inflicted with severe force, is all it takes to kill. What is the purpose of stabbing with severe force a man in the back who is already overwhelmed by others, a man who had his back turned and posed no threat? The purpose can only have been to kill him.
“It is my assessment that Zayd Alasaly intended to kill and, by passing the knife to him, Michael Fields, intended that too, and assisted and encouraged him. You not only robbed Paul Foster of his drugs and money. You robbed him of his life.”
Blundell, of Corsewall Street in Wavertree, was cleared of murder but found guilty of manslaughter and jailed for 16 years. Jurors reached the same verdicts in the cases of 61-year-old Abrahim, of Croxteth Road in Toxteth, and 41-year-old Kasseum, of Lower Breck Road in Anfield. They were locked up for 18 and 17 years respectively.
The judge told them: “Within a few minutes, Paul Foster was attacked, robbed and stabbed to death. You made your first task the smoking of more crack and the sharing of the spoils. I am satisfied that you, Elsadig Abrahim, disposed of the gun and the knife. Later, you, Sarah Kasseum, went for some late night refreshment of a pizza with Michael Fields.
“Each of you are habitual takers of class A drugs. Those substances destroy people’s lives. Each of you has harmed your health with them. None of you have made any positive contribution to society. You drift from one crackhouse to another and live on state benefits and crime. The public has been paying for your lifestyle, and none of you has put anything into society.
“Paul Foster was killed because of your drug infused lifestyle. It was a group action in the hours of darkness. Disguises were worn. A highly realistic imitation firearm was brought to the scene. The robbery persisted even when Paul Foster was bleeding to death. You all shared in the spoils.”
