Ali Dastmozd acquitted of attempted murder after brutally stabbing ex-wife’s boyfriend

A Melbourne man who brutally stabbed his ex-wife’s new boyfriend has been acquitted of attempted murder.

Ali Dastmozd was found guilty of intentionally causing serious injury. Picture: Facebook

A Melbourne man who forced his way into his ­ex-wife’s house and brutally stabbed her new boyfriend has been acquitted of attempted murder.

A Supreme Court jury this week instead found Ali Dastmozd guilty of the lesser charge of intentionally causing serious injury over the frenzied attack in which Mohammad Nejad lost up to a litre of blood having been stabbed in the neck.

On October 1, 2020, Dastmozd, then aged 39, arrived at former partner Sahar Seyedi’s Mulgrave home and demanded she let him inside.

Ms Seyedi, who separated from her ex-husband the previous year, opened the door but told him he could not come in as she had a guest over.

Ali Dastmozd has been acquitted of attempted murder. Picture: Facebook

Sahar Seyedi had separated from Dastmozd the previous year. Picture: Facebook

“I know you have a boyfriend, you’ve brought a man inside,” Dastmozd replied.

The court heard Dastmozd, who shared two young children with his ex-wife, became “enraged” and pulled a knife from his pants before storming past Ms Seyedi into her home.

Mr Nejad, then aged 38, had begun dating Ms Seyedi a few weeks earlier and was waiting in her bedroom while she dealt with her ex-husband.

In his testimony, Mr Nejad said he heard Dastmozd yelling: “Who is he? Where is he?”

Mr Nejad said everything happened in the “flash of a moment” but when he saw Dastmozd open the bedroom door carrying a 30-40cm knife, he pushed past him to escape.

But Dastmozd pushed him from behind and on to a couch in view of the children.

“The accused proceeded to stab Mr Nejad to the head, the neck and the elbow … all the while the accused (was) saying ‘I’ll kill you, I’ll kill you’,” prosecutor Robyn Harper said.

The court heard Mr Nejad wrestled the knife from his attacker’s hand and ran on to the street. He threw the blade into a neighbour’s yard and ran to a nearby street, where a resident called paramedics and police.

Another neighbour told the court Ms Seyedi was hysterical when she ran to their home begging to be let inside. The neighbour let her in but when she went outside she saw Dastmozd in the driveway covered in blood.

“Is he dead? If he’s not dead, I’m going to kill him,” Dastmozd said.

Police arrested Dastmozd at the scene while Mr Nejad, who suffered five stab wounds and had his jugular vein severed, was rushed to hospital.

During the two-week trial, Dastmozd’s defence barrister, Nicholas Papas QC, contended Mr Nejad produced the knife and inadvertently stabbed himself. But Ms Harper asked the jury to reject this “preposterous” claim. Dastmozd will ­return to court for sentencing.