Rochfords Gardens murderer given life sentence as family remember victim

A murderer who stabbed his victim dozens of times after a drug deal gone wrong in Slough has been given a life sentence.

Khalil Muhammad, of no fixed address, also drove over his victim as he fled the scene of his crime in Rochford Gardens on September 11, 2024.

The 27-year-old was found guilty of murder by unanimous jury verdict following a trial in Reading Crown Court that concluded this week.

He will spend at least 24 years of the life sentence in jail, a judge ruled at a sentencing on Thursday (September 18). 

Frederick Mutala's family said Muhammad's sentencing 'cannot undo the devastation' caused by his murder.

In a statement after Muhammad’s guilty verdict, Thames Valley Police senior investigating officer, detective inspector Nick Hind said Muhammad had committed a ‘horrifically violent attack’.

At a trial, jurors were told Muhammad did not dispute he had killed his victim, 23-year-old Frederick Mutala, but he disputed murder.

CCTV images showed Muhammad relentlessly stabbing Mr Mutala 34 times in a brutal attack after the two had been involved in a cannabis deal worth around £26,000 in street value.

Prosecutors said Muhammad had launched a ‘murderous attack’ which had left his victim with such severe wounds that many were deemed to have been individually ‘unsurvivable’.

Mr Mutala was pronounced dead at the scene, while Muhammad then went on the run in the blue saloon Audi that his victim had earlier been driving.

He was stopped by armed police in Slough, who smashed through a car window to apprehend the killer.

In court, Muhammad pleaded not guilty to the murder charge and said he had ‘feared for his life’ during the attack. He claimed he thought his victim was about to attack him.

Muhammad’s defence claimed he was suffering from trauma, and the now-convicted murderer told the court that watching the footage of his attack was like ‘watching another person’.

The crime scene in Rochfords Gardens

He said the knife used in the attack had been taken from the back of Mr Mutala’s car, amid the botched drug deal.

Muhammad had pleaded guilty to possession with intent to supply cannabis and driving a motor vehicle dangerously at Reading Crown Court on August 15.

He also pleaded guilty to driving a motor vehicle otherwise than in accordance with a licence and using a motor vehicle on a road/public place without third-party insurance.

A tribute from Mr Mutala’s family after Muhammad’s sentence said: “Today marks the end of a long and painful journey through the courts.

“While the sentencing provides some closure, it cannot undo the devastation caused by the loss of our beloved Frederick.

“No sentence will ever bring him back or heal the hole left in our hearts and in the lives of everyone who loved him.”

It said Muhammad’s statements during the trial had ‘sought to shift blame and reduce Frederick’s life to a single label, ignoring the truth of what really happened’.

The family said he had shown ‘a lack of accountability’.

The sentencing took place at Reading Crown Court

Muhammad was found not guilty of possessing a bladed article in public.