Takieddine ‘Taki’ Boudhane was stabbed following what police called a ‘minor road traffic dispute’

A MAN who fatally stabbed a delivery driver in a fit of “road rage” and spent over a year on the run has finally been brought to justice.

Nathan Smith, a plumber from Archway, was found guilty of murdering Takieddine “Taki”’ Boudhane on Wednesday.

The verdict follows a manhunt that spanned a continent and lasted more than a year after Smith fled the country.

Detective Chief Inspector Neil John, who led the investigation, said: “Smith thought he could get away with murder by leaving the UK but we never gave up our efforts to find him, using all of the resources at the Met’s disposal.

“It is an absolute tragedy for Taki and his family that what seemed to start as a minor road traffic dispute led to him losing his life. This case yet again illustrates the dangers that weapons cause on our streets and I hope anyone considering carrying a knife thinks again after seeing the devastation this case has wreaked on two sets of families.”

Smith, 28, stabbed Mr Boudhane in Lennox Road, Finsbury Park, in January 2020 following what police have called a “minor road traffic dispute”.

Mr Boudhane, who was working as a delivery driver at the time of his death, got into a row with Smith after criticising his driving. The two men exchanged words before Smith came out of his van with a knife in his hand. Mr Boudhane had tried to defend himself from the attack with his crash helmet but was stabbed in the chest.

He collapsed in the street while attempting to chase his attacker back to the van. He died at the scene a short while later.

The next day Smith fled the country, boarding a flight to Austria where he remained in hiding for more than a year.

Police issued a warrant for his address and he was placed on Europol’s most wanted list.

He was found in Portugal 17 months later, returning to the UK in June last year, where he was charged with murder.
He had pleaded self-defence.

An Algerian national living in Enfield, Mr Boudhane’s murder was met with an outpouring of grief from friends, family and the wider community.

“All he wanted to do was to get money to send home and build himself a good life. He wasn’t into drugs or gangs or anything like that. He just wanted a wife and kids, and to make my parents proud,” his brother Islam told the Tribune at the time.

His mother, Saida, flew to the UK from Algeria in the aftermath of his death.

“He came here to do a very honourable job. It’s not a job that’s meant to be dangerous,” she said.

Smith will be sentenced at the Old Bailey on Thursday, August 25.