A Moroccan asylum seeker murdered a “defenceless” pensioner in a rampage motivated by the conflict in Gaza, a court has heard.
Ahmed Ali Alid, 45, attempted to kill his housemate, Javed Nouri, a former Muslim who converted to Christianity, because he believed Nouri was an apostate – meaning someone who has abandoned their religion, Teesside Crown Court was told.
He then went out onto the streets of Hartlepool where he encountered Terence Carney, 70, who was out for a morning walk, attacking him and stabbing him to death, the jury heard.
Following his arrest, Alid admitted being responsible for the attempted murder of Nouri and the murder of Carney.
However, he is now on trial after pleading not guilty to both charges and to assaulting two female police officers who had interviewed him after his arrest.
Alid told police the attacks on the two men on 15 October last year, a week after the Hamas attacks on Israel, were “because of the conflict in Gaza” and to remove “Zionists” from Palestine, the court heard.
He said he would have killed others if he had not been stopped and was prepared to be a martyr, the jury was told.
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Jonathan Sandiford KC, prosecuting, told the court there had been “friction” between Alid and Mr Nouri who lived in asylum accommodation in Wharton Terrace along with two other men.
“Mr Nouri had been a Muslim who had converted to Christianity. He was attending a local church in Hartlepool,” Mr Sandiford said.
“The defendant was Muslim. The evidence would indicate he was quite a strict Muslim. He seems to have regarded Mr Nouri as a murtad, or apostate, who therefore deserved to die.”
Mr Nouri and his other housemates formed the view that Alid followed an “extreme interpretation of Islam”, the court was told.
On 7 October – the day on which Hamas launched an attack on Israel from Gaza – and the days afterwards, they noted that Alid was paying particular attention to coverage of the attacks, the jury heard.
Alid had taken to keeping a knife with him in the house and began making threats towards Mr Nouri and the other two housemates who were afraid of what he might do, the court was told.
On 9 October, Mr Nouri allegedly reported their concerns to the housing managers and to friends at his church in Hartlepool, who advised him to contact the police.
The housing managers visited the property on 10 October and warned Alid he would have to leave the house if his behaviour continued, the jury heard.
Mr Nouri was asked to return to the police station on 13 October, when he was told “rightly or wrongly the police were of the view that the defendant had committed no offences so advice was given to Mr Nouri on what to do if things developed further”, the court was told.
At 5am on Sunday 15 October, Mr Nouri was in bed asleep when Alid broke into his bedroom armed with two knives and attacked him, the jury heard.
Mr Nouri allegedly heard Alid kick the door in and woke up to find him shouting “Allahu Akbar”, meaning “God is great”, and stabbing him in the upper chest near to his heart.
He managed to kick Alid away and run for the door but was then allegedly attacked from behind and stabbed in the face, before managing to get Alid into a headlock and wrestling one of the knives from him, the jury was told.
One of his housemates came to his assistance and they bundled Alid out of the room and sat with their backs against the door as Alid kicked at it, attempting to get back in, the court heard.
However, one of the knives had ended up in the corridor and Alid allegedly picked it up and went out on to the street where he passed Mr Carney on an early morning walk, circling back and approaching him from behind.
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The jury has watched CCTV footage which shows Carney being stabbed a number of times while “effectively defenceless” and crying out: “No, No.”
“Despite Mr Carney’s injuries, he appears to have been able to get to his feet and move a short distance along Tees Street to the junction with Raby Road where he collapsed and ultimately died,” Mr Sandiford said.
Alid said after his arrest that he had attacked the two adults “because Israel had killed innocent children” and swore that, if he had had a machine gun, and more weapons, he would have killed more victims, the court heard.
He described Mr Carney as an “innocent victim, killed because Britain created the Zionist entity” and said he wanted to “make it leave”, the jury was told.
The court heard that he added: “They killed children and I killed an old man.”
Alid swore by Allah that if the “colonisation” – by which he appeared to mean by Israel – did not leave, Britain was “on the verge of an explosion and there would be more victims”, the jury heard.
He said Britain would be a “wreck” and that two victims being lost was better than the whole of Britain being lost, the court was told.
The jury heard the interview concluded with Alid swearing by Allah that he was “ready for shahada” – martyrdom.
