Man, 24, given life sentence for fatal stabbing

A man has received a life sentence after being convicted of murdering a man who was stabbed last year.

Jegir Asaad, 24, fatally attacked Tomas Stankiewicz with a knife in Filton Avenue, Horfield, Bristol, during an altercation in the early hours of 21 August 2024.

During a two-week trial, the jury was told that Mr Stankiewicz, 39, was stabbed when he went to collect one of two women who had been with Asaad and fellow defendant Ferahg Fukeri, who was acquitted of murder.

Asaad was found guilty of murder on 28 February and was sentenced at Bristol Crown Court on Thursday. He will serve a minimum of 23 years in prison before he can be considered for parole.

The court was told Mr Stankiewicz had picked up one of the women who had been at Asaad's home and went back to Filton Avenue to collect the second woman a few hours later.

The jury heard he had taken a wrench out of his car as he approached the house and an altercation ensued.

After being wounded, Mr Stankiewicz got back into his car and drove a short distance before having to stop due to his injuries. He later died in hospital.

Dashcam footage from a passing taxi showed Asaad with a knife that was later recovered by detectives and forensic evidence linked it to the murder.

Asaad claimed to have been acting in self-defence, but the prosecution argued the ferocity of the attack and his decision to grab a knife amounted to murder.

Reading a statement out to the court, Mr Stankiewicz's mother said the family had been left feeling "incomprehensible shock and pain".

She said: "Tomasz has been taken away from us, someone who was not only a son, a brother, but also a father to two little girls.

"My grandchildren have lost their daddy – and there won't be a single day in their lives when they will not have to cope with the fact that they will never see him again.

"As a mother, I have lost a part of me. My heart has been torn to little pieces and there are simply no words that could describe how much I miss my only son."

Senior investigating officer Det Insp Neil Meade said: "It is impossible to fully explain the pain that Tomasz Stankiewicz's family have experienced – and continue to feel – since his death in August.

"No sentence can sadly bring him back to them and while the legal proceedings may have concluded today, their grief does not.

"This incident shows the fatal consequences that picking up or carrying a knife can cause."

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