An asylum seeker who murdered a pensioner in the street in what he said was “revenge” for the conflict between Israel and Hamas has been jailed for life.
Moroccan national Ahmed Alid, 45, will serve a minimum of 44 years before he can be considered for release.
Last month, a jury found him guilty of stabbing Terence Carney, 70, six times in Hartlepool, County Durham, last October, eight days after Hamas carried out its terrror attack in Israel.
Minutes earlier, at around 5am, he had broken into the bedroom of his housemate, Christian convert and former body builder Javed Nouri, and hacked at him while he slept. Mr Nouri survived the attack but said he did not “trust anyone or anything” after the attack.
Sentencing at Teesside Crown Court, Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb said Alid “did not have the courage to admit his guilt in court” and had no history of mental illness.
Alid shouted “Allahu Akbar” – “God is great” – during the attack at the Home Office-approved asylum seekers’ accommodation in Wharton Terrace, as Mr Nouri, 31, fought for his life, the court heard.
Following the struggle, audio of which was captured by another asylum seeker’s 999 call, the smaller man fled into the street, still armed with one knife.
Doorbell camera footage showed Mr Carney, who was out walking in the town centre, cry out “no” as he was stabbed by the stranger.
This was not a frenzied attack, the prosecution at Teesside Crown Court said, but a deliberate attempt to target Mr Carney’s body repeatedly before he walked off, leaving his victim for dead.
Jurors saw footage of armed police arresting Alid, who still had his bloodstained knife in his waistband, in a nearby street.
In a holding cell at Middlesbrough police station, Alid launched into a speech in Arabic saying that “Allah willing, Gaza would return to be an Arab country” and how he would have continued his “raid” if his hands had not been injured.
Alid, who strongly disapproved of Mr Nouri’s conversion to Christianity, said God was “displeased” with those who went astray.
Housemates noticed Alid had watched a lot of coverage of the Hamas attacks on Israel and began carrying a knife.
Mr Nouri told detectives how Alid had laughed when he saw Hamas kill its victims.
The concerned housemate complained to housing bosses, the Home Office and to Cleveland Police, and a manager did warn Alid to behave or risk being thrown out.
Alid wandered Europe before ending up in Hartlepool
Morocco-born Ahmed Alid came to the UK to seek asylum having drifted around Europe for years.
The former pastry chef and shop owner, convicted of randomly murdering a pensioner walking inHartlepooltown centre, told jurors during his trial he had been jailed in Germany for entering the country without a passport or visa.
The 45-year-old wasborn in Fez, Morocco, but was raised in Algeria, where his grandfather had a business.
He left North Africa in 2007, telling Teesside Crown Court via an Arabic interpreter how his shop had been monitored by the intelligence services who were “harassing” him.
He arrived in Spain and moved around the continent for years, spending time in Spain, France, Italy, Germany, Scandinavia, the Netherlands and Austria, never gaining asylum.
Alid spent just days or weeks in some countries and years in Germany, where he never achieved his aim of opening a shop.
He tried to marry a German woman buthad lost his passport in Greece, he told the court, so the marriage could not go through.
Late in 2020, he took a ferry from Amsterdam to Middlesbrough where he was arrested by police as he did not have the correct papers and he applied for asylum.
Asked by John Elvidge KC, his defence counsel, if that was successful, Alid said: “I didn’t have any answer.”
His asylum status was still being processed at the time of the murder, it was understood.
He was permitted to work four hours a week, but that did not lead to him getting ajob, and he was often seen jogging aroundHartlepoolto keep fit.
Alid was a devout Muslim and prayed five times a day at home, but did not attend a local mosque.
He clashed with other asylum seekers living at the Home Office-approved accommodation in Wharton Terrace, including arguments about his cleanliness and them leaving alcohol in the communal fridge, which he said was against his religious beliefs.
In the days leading up to the attack, they grew concerned about his reaction to the Hamas attacks on Israel.
Javed Nouri, the man he tried to murder, told police later: “He was sittingon the kitchen chair and checking the news on his mobile phone.
“He was laughing and every time they would kill somebody, he would praise God.”
He added: “I was very upset from that night and I have seen something terrible and frightening in his eyes.”
During his police interview the day after the murder, Alid told police he launched his attacks because “Israel had killed innocent children”.
Jonathan Sandiford KC, prosecuting, told the court: “In other words, he said he had committed the attempted murder of Javed Nouri and the murder of Mr Carney in revenge for what he believed to be the killing of children by Israel.”
Mr Sandiford added: “He swore by Allah that, if he had had a machine gun, and more weapons, he would have killed more victims.”
Alid admitted Mr Carney was “innocent”, justifying the attack by saying that Britain had created the “Zionist entity” of Israel and should make them leave, adding: “They killed children and I killed an old man.”
Alid began to get agitated with his interpreter during questioning by two female detectives, with colleagues monitoring the interview from elsewhere in the building.
The defendant, a terror suspect, got into a struggle with the two women, one of whom pressed a panic button to summon help, but the alarm did not work.
The situation was so frightening, Alid’s own solicitor rang 999 from inside the police station to ask for help, before officers were able to force entry into the room and subdue him.
Alid denied murder, attempted murder and assaulting the two officers, claiming he did carry out the stabbings but without intention to kill or cause serious harm.
After the trial, Detective Chief Superintendent James Dunkerley, head of Counter Terrorism Policing North East, said: “The horrific attacks in Hartlepool were unprovoked and deeply disturbing.
“I have no doubt that the swift response of the attending officers prevented further harm or loss of life that morning.
“We’re grateful for their bravery in the face of a dangerous and unpredictable suspect.”
“I’d also like to thank the people of Hartlepool for their calm and measured response to that day’s events and for the resilience they showed in the weeks that followed.”
Cleveland Police’s Deputy Chief Constable Victoria Fuller said the stabbings “shook the local community to its core”.
She said: “Alid’s actions not only left a family devastated, but also caused significant fear and distress amongst residents in Hartlepool and beyond.”
A jury unanimously found Alid guilty of murdering Mr Carney, attempting to murder Mr Nouri and assaulting the two detectives.
