Killer who ‘acted out his own horror movie’ as he stabbed neighbour to death over parking row
Killer who ‘acted out his own horror movie’ as he stabbed neighbour to death over parking row is jailed for at least 38 years as widow pays tribute to ‘good, honest and kind man who never fell out with anybody’
Can Arslan, 52, knifed his neighbour, Matthew Boorman, 43, 27 times last yearMr Arslan lived out a ‘horror movie’ that he hoped would ‘end up on the TV’ Mother-0f-three Mrs Boorman called Matthew ‘a good, honest and kind man’Mr Boorman’s family criticised the police response to the threats from Mr ArslanThe IOPC has opened an investigation into Gloucestershire Police’s actions
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A man who killed his neighbour last year ‘acted out his own horror movie’ according to the judge.
He was jailed for life with a minimum term of 38 years in in Walton Cardiff, near Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire.
Can Arslan, 52, killed father-of-three Matthew Boorman,43 by stabbing him 27 times on his front garden after he came home from work.
Can Arslan, 52, carried out a reign of terror on the Walton Cardiff estate, near Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, for more than 12 years before he killed Matthew Boorman
Mr Boorman’s wife Sarah was injured when she tried to get Arslan off her husband
The fatal attack on Cotober 5 was the climax of 12 years of threats from Arslan to Mr Boorman which began with a row over parking.
Prosecutor Kate Brunner QC told jurors during his trial at Bristol Crown Court that Arslan had ‘planned and controlled’ the stabbings.
He thought he had ‘A horror movie where he was going to take a starring role, and end up on the TV.’
She cited the words of one of Mr Boorman’s colleagues, who was on the phone to him when Arslan attacked.
She told the court: ‘She said it was like listening to a ‘totally horrendous horror movie’, and it was a horror movie that was just beginning and this defendant had written the script.
Mr Marsden said Arslan had ‘bullied, abused and threatened’ his family for 12 years but this had escalated since 2018 following an alleged scratch to the defendant’s wife’s car
On a fatal rampage, after killing Mr Boorman, Arslan forced his way into Peter Marsden’s home and stabbed him eight times
‘This was not something that happened to him – it was something he had planned and controlled. It was a horror movie planned out, where he was going to stab his victims to death one by one.’
Mr Arslan subjected his neighbours to years of threatening and abusive behaviour which ment many installed security systems and the killing was captured in detail.
He stabbed another neighbour eight times, Peter Marsden but he survived.
Mr Boorman’s wife Sarah suffered a deep cut to her thigh when she tried to pull Arslan off her husband and stop him from attacking.
In a victim impact statement, Mrs Boorman described her husband as a devoted father who loved playing with his children and ‘enjoyed all parts of parenting’.
Mr Boorman’s family criticised the response by police in response to the years of abuse and threats from Arslan as The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) has opened an investigation into Gloucestershire Police’s actions in light of the many reported incidents prior to Mr Boorman’s death
Mr Boorman had been taking legal action against Arslan to try to get him evicted from the estate
‘Our children knew nothing but love and care and kindness,’ she said.
She continued: ‘Matthew was a good, honest and kind man who never fell out with anybody.’
Mrs Boorman described how the family had endured years of Arslan threatening to rape and murder them, and verbally abusing them.
She said life was like ‘living in the middle of a war zone, we were always on edge about what was going to happen’.
The Boormans’ three children, then aged 12, seven and two, were in the house during the attack, with the eldest running to shut his siblings in the lounge to protect them.
Sister in law Sarah Elston surrounded by family and friends of Matthew Boorman outside Bristol Crown Court in April this year
Mr Boorman’s wife, Sarah was injured when she tried to get him to stop attacking her husband
Mrs Boorman said: ‘I struggle to explain to Matt’s biggest fans, his children – they don’t understand why a bad man would want to hurt their daddy so much they can’t ever see him again.’
Mrs Boorman thanked the neighbours who had tried to save her husband and tackle Arslan.
‘I want to say thank you to the heroes who came to help me and tried to save Matt,’ she said.
‘Many of them were people I had never met before. I didn’t know their names and I didn’t know if they had families waiting for them, but they came to help me and tried to save Matt by selflessly running towards danger.’
She continued: ‘These strangers, with kindness and love, came to my rescue.’
Mrs Boorman added: ‘Matt didn’t die in the front garden where he was attacked, he died in our house, away from the evil man, and with love around him.’
When Arslan was jailed in April this year Mrs Justice Cutts said: ‘On that afternoon, for no reason at all, you took the life of a decent family man, robbed his children of their father, his wife of her husband, and his mother and siblings of a much-loved son and brother.’
