TV presenter stabbed on UK street by 'laughing men' recruited by Iran, court hears

CCTV captured the moment prosecutors say a TV presenter was stabbed in a London street by two "laughing" men recruited by the Iranian government.

Pouria Zeraati was stabbed three times in the leg in an attack in broad daylight outside his home in Wimbledon, south west London, in March 2024.

Woolwich Crown Court heard the attack was "ordered by a third party acting on behalf of the Iranian state".

CCTV was shown to the jury of the moment it is alleged that Romanian nationals Nandito Badea, 21, and David Andrei, 22, surrounded Mr Zeraati as he was about to drive to Iran International, based in Chiswick, west London, for his TV show.

A third man, George Stana, 25, is accused of driving Badea and Andrei from the scene in a blue Mazda, which was later found abandoned in New Malden, south west London.

The court heard Andrei allegedly grabbed Mr Zeraati from behind while Badea drew a knife and stabbed him.

Badea and Stana have both pleaded not guilty to charges of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and unlawful wounding.

The pair, were extradited from Romania, but Andrei remains in the country facing "domestic proceedings", the court was told on Wednesday.

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Mr Zeraati worked for Iran International, a competitor to the state broadcaster, which the Iranian regime branded "a network of spies".

Posters in Iran's capital, Tehran, featured pictures of a number of journalists, including Mr Zeraati, under the heading "Wanted: dead or alive".

The prosecution claims all three Romanian men were motivated by money but were acting as criminal "proxies" for the Iranian state.

The court heard a nearby wastebin was found to contain Badea's distinctive black hooded top with the word "gangster" on the front and a teddy bear cartoon on the back, along with a green jumper worn by Stana.

The jury heard from Zainab Mussa, who witnessed the attack, and said she had seen the men near her home nearly two hours earlier.

"I got curious because they were there for so long. The strange thing was, and why I was watching them, they were definitely rushing and that's when I saw them go towards the victim.

"I could clearly see he was shocked. He looked physically upset and then I heard him scream.

"I had a feeling they stabbed him and that's when I ran down, without a scarf and no shoes because that was my natural instinct."

Another witness, Jack Upton, told the court he was walking towards the scene of the attack with a friend and saw two figures in black tracksuits "sprinting quite fast towards us".

"When I first saw them, they were relaxed, slightly jovial, as if they were laughing among themselves."

They made towards a blue Mazda with its engine running and drove off as the pair jumped into it, before the doors were closed, he said.

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Further up the street, he said they found Mr Zeraati: "There was blood on his trainers. They were white trainers so it was quite shocking. He said quite loudly several times, 'I've been stabbed, I've been stabbed.'

"He [Mr Zeraati] said he had called 999 and he was on the phone. He told us he was a journalist and he'd had threats before, so I understood quite quickly it was something serious that was going on."

On Tuesday, Mr Zeraati told the trial how Badea had approached him, asking for change, and he was then grabbed from behind by Andrei, while Badea stabbed his right thigh. He was later treated for three stab wounds.

The blue Mazda was later found abandoned in New Malden. The jury was shown pictures of a carrier bag in the front passenger footwell containing two tea towels and a bottle of Dettol surface cleaner.

All three men caught a taxi to Heathrow before catching a flight via Geneva and returning to their native Romania.

The case continues.

(c) Sky News 2026: TV presenter stabbed on UK street by 'laughing men' recruited by Iran, court hears