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Iraqi immigrant who arrived in Britain on a small boat stabbed a student in a bid to be deported after having become disillusioned with life living in a taxpayer-funded hotel.

Rebaz Mohammed, 28, has been jailed for six years after he stopped stranger Ellis Wheeler, 18, to ask him a question before knifing him in the back in Southampton last December.

Mohammed, who has a string of previous convictions including a prison term, then chased the Solent University student, who managed to run away before passing out.

Southampton Crown Court heard that Mohammed carried out the attack hoping it would get him deported from the UK, where he had arrived illegally by crossing the Channel in a small boat. He had grown disenchanted with life in a taxpayer-funded Bournemouth hotel and complained of having 'no work or money', the court heard.

CCTV footage released today shows the Iraqi stopping him to ask if Mr Wheeler knew anything about kickboxing. He then pulled a kitchen knife from his coat before plunging it into the teenager's back, puncturing his lung.