Asylum seeker who murdered pensioner ‘in revenge for Gaza’ is a terrorist – judge

Ahmed Alid (45) was jailed for life with a minimum sentence of 45 years for stabbing 70-year-old Terence Carney (70) six times in Hartlepool town center on October 15 – eight days after Hamas attacked Israel.

Minutes earlier, he had attempted to murder his roommate, Christian convert and former bodybuilder Javed Nouri, by breaking into his bedroom and hacking him while he slept.

Alid shouted “Allahu Akbar” – “God is great” – during the attack on the Home Office-approved center for asylum seekers, before running into the street, still armed with a knife.

Doorbell camera footage shows Mr Carney, who was walking in the city centre, shouting “No, no” as he was stabbed by a stranger.

Prosecutors at Teesside Crown Court said it was not a frenzied attack but a deliberate and repeated attempt to target Mr Carney’s body before he walked away, leaving his victim for dead.

In a cell at Middlesbrough police station after his arrest, Alid gave a speech in Arabic, saying that “Allah willing, Gaza will return and become an Arab country” and how he would continue his “raid” if his hands were injured.

Alid, who strongly condemned Mr. Nouri’s conversion to Christianity, said God was “displeased” with those who had gone astray.

Judge Ms Justice Cheema-Grubb told Alid he “hoped to frighten British citizens and undermine the freedoms they enjoy” when he murdered Carney in a terrorist attack.

She said the attack on Nouri was “an attempt to punish him for converting to Christianity.”

Mr Carney’s wife, Patricia Carney, said her husband went out for a walk early every morning because he enjoyed the peace and quiet of the streets.

In a statement read to the court during the hearing, Ms Carney said: “Tess was doing what he always did and what he enjoyed – he was walking down a street he thought was safe and a chance encounter with this man ended his life.”

She said she had been with Mr Carney from a young age and although they lived apart for several years, they were “still very much together”.

Mrs Carney’s statement said she could no longer go into town because it was “too painful” to be near the spot where her husband was murdered.

“From that day on, my life will change forever. I don’t feel anything anymore,” she said.

Nouri, 31, said he “doesn’t trust anyone or anything” since the attack and that “all the thoughts and feelings I had about being in a safe country are gone.”

In his statement, he added: “I would have expected to be arrested and killed in my country for converting to Christianity, but I did not expect that here, in my sleep, I would be attacked.

“How is it possible for someone to destroy someone else’s life because of their religion?”

Nouri said that he is currently struggling with mental problems and has had to move to cities, losing all his friends.

He added: “I want to say to Ahmed: you are a weak man, because of your religion you attack a person in deep sleep and an elderly man who had difficulty walking.”

During Alid’s trial, jurors heard how his roommates noticed he watched a lot of coverage of Hamas attacks on Israel and began carrying a knife.

Concerned, Mr. Nouri complained to housing executives, the Home Office and Cleveland Police, and the manager warned Alid to behave differently or risk being fired.

During a police interview the day after the murder, Alid said he carried out the attacks because “Israel killed innocent children.”

Prosecutor Jonathan Sandiford KC told the court: “In other words, he said he committed the attempted murder of Javed Nouri and the murder of Mr Carney in revenge for what he believed was the killing of children by Israel.

“He swore by Allah that if he had a machine gun and more weapons, he would have killed more victims.”

Alid admitted Carney was “innocent”, justifying the attack by saying Britain had created a “Zionist entity” in Israel and should force them to leave Israel, adding: “They killed the children and I killed the old man.”

During the interrogation, Alid became nervous and got into a fight with two detectives, one of whom pressed the panic button, which did not work.

The situation was so terrifying that Alid’s lawyer called 999 for help before officers managed to break into the room and overpower him.

Alid denied murder, attempted murder and assault on the two officers, saying he had indeed stabbed but had no intention of killing or causing serious harm.

He was found guilty on all four charges last month.

Judge Cheema-Grubb ruled that Alid had committed terrorism offenses by murdering Mr Carney and attempting to murder Mr Nouri.

She said that because of the time spent in custody, he would spend 44 years and 52 days in prison.

The judge said he waited to attack Mr Nouri when he was “sleepy and defenseless” and that “what happened ruined the life he had started to build in this country.”

Judge Cheema-Grubb found that Alid then “attacked an unarmed, elderly man who was unable to defend himself.”

The judge told Alid that the jury “saw through (his) lies” after he found that statements he made to police had been mistranslated and that political and religious reasons were not his actual motivation.

She said psychiatric reports showed no evidence of psychosis “or any other serious mental illness” in Alid.

She said he was considered to be suffering from a “minor mental illness”, called adjustment disorder, which may have affected his judgment and was caused by pressures, including tension with Mr Nouri, the “prolongation” of the decision on his application for asylum and “emotional problems”. impact on his religious sensitivity” of Israel’s reaction to the Hamas attack.

The judge said it provided “very limited mitigation” because it was not sufficiently linked to “this serious level of violence.”