Two Romanians found guilty of stabbing Iranian opposition journalist

2 hours ago

Daniel SandfordUK correspondent, Woolwich Crown Court

Two Romanian nationals have been found guilty of stabbing a journalist in Wimbledon on behalf of the Iranian regime in an attempt to "silence" him.

Pouria Zeraati works for the Persian language channel Iran International that is critical of the Iranian government. He was attacked as he walked to his car near his home that is just around the corner from the world-famous All England Lawn Tennis Club.

Nandito Badea, 21, and George Stana, 25, were both convicted by a jury at Woolwich Crown Court of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

Badea wielded the knife, while Stana drove the Mazda getaway car. A third man, David Andrei, allegedly held Zeraati while he was being stabbed.

The jury was told that Andrei was not on trial because he could not be extradited from Romania.

All three men flew from Heathrow Airport to Switzerland just hours after the stabbing on 29 March 2024.

Pouria Zeraati said the attack was "very frightening", and added Badea had first asked him for £3 before he pulled out a knife.

"He started stabbing the back of my right thigh very quickly. All the time he was looking me in the eye," he said.

"I could feel the taking out and stabbing again."

The attack left him in hospital needing stitches for three stab wounds in his leg.

Counter terrorism detectives think Zeraati was attacked because he is a high-profile opposition voice whose programmes are beamed via satellite into Iran.

Posters of him had been put up in the Iranian capital Tehran with the words "Wanted: dead or alive" written on them.

Ch Supt Kris Wright of Counter Terrorism Policing said: "I believe he was targeted because of his role as the vocal opposition to the Iranian regime here in the UK. The coverage that he has globally is significant. An attack on him could be seen not only as an attack to silence him, but also for Iran to send a message to wider populations.

"As we see in a number of cases linked to overseas influence, I would describe these offenders as 'proxies'. People for hire, local criminals - or not so local criminals - willing to undertake acts for money rather than because of their beliefs or affiliation to a regime's beliefs."

Wright said detectives are seeing "more and more cases" linked to overseas regimes trying to exert their influence in the UK.

He said counter terrorism policing was "working tirelessly to bring people to justice" and to send a very strong message - "that those activities will not be tolerated here in the UK at all."

A year before the attack, Zeraati's wife had filmed Stana and another man in the communal garden in front of their Wimbledon home. The men were stopped by police and found to be carrying a cricket bat and a hockey stick.

There were then several days of reconnaissance on their street in the days before the attack in March 2024.

More than £80,000 was paid into the Revolut bank account of Stana's sister Florina from a London-based construction company called Hemroc Ltd.

Money from her account was then transferred to accounts linked to Badea and Stana. She also paid for their flights between Bucharest and London.

The prosecution said that this showed that the attackers were being funded by others, through Hemroc Ltd and Stana's sister.

The money transfers have been linked by detectives to a British-Iranian dual national called Edgar Hakkopian. He has not been charged.

Filings at Companies House suggest that Hemroc Ltd and linked companies are involved in construction and hospitality.

At times Stana appears to have worked as a decorator in London.

In his teens, Badea was briefly a professional footballer in Romania playing for FC Astra Giurgiu and CS Blejoi. But he quit football because of the low pay and started working in construction.

Badea said he was recruited to come to London by Constantin "Bebe" Matache and Catalin Dumitru to work in construction, and was promised £3,000 per month, but the work never materialised.

In his evidence he had claimed that he thought the job in Wimbledon was to "slap" Zeraati for sleeping with Matache's wife and to steal a watch.

He claimed Andrei carried out the stabbing, but Zeraati was clear in his evidence that Badea wielded the knife.

In December 2024, Badea and Stana were extradited from Romania to stand trial for the stabbing, but Andrei could not be extradited because he had to first face legal proceedings in Romania.

Counter terrorism detectives say their investigation is continuing.

In January 2025 they arrested a 40-year-old man at an address in Cricklewood in north-west London.

He was arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to commit grievous bodily harm and was released on bail.