Moroccan asylum seeker Ahmed Ali Alid murdered ‘defenceless pensioner’ in rampage motivated by Gaza, court hears
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.
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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A police cordon at Wharton Terrace in Hartlepool where Javed Nouri was found with injuries
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.
While the nature of Donald Trump’s second state visit is indeed unusual, from the moment Sir Keir Starmer delivered the gold-edged invitation it began a process steeped in tradition.
State visits are usually reserved to one per head of state, with Trump last hosted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2019.
Typically, second-term US presidents are offered a shorter visit, perhaps tea or lunch with the monarch at Windsor Castle. But the red carpet is literally being rolled out once again, with Trump receiving a second full state visit, with all the pomp and pageantry it entails.
An indication was given early on in Trump’s second term that he’d be receptive to a second state visit, and so – on perhaps the advice of the new prime minister – the King issued a second invitation.
The greatest form of tradition is one that always evolves, and so this may now set a new precedent for presidents who are voted out but then return to serve a second term.
Trump and his wife Melania with the then Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall in 2019. Pic: PA
Any nation can hold a state visit, but what is unique about Britain remains our internationally respected pageantry.
Even down to the very invitation – there is a very precise format for inviting someone on a state visit.
An invite must be issued, established by international law. Written on a special gold-edged paper, embossed with a golden coat of arms that is issued, it forms part of a historic archive.
Breaches of protocol
Much has been made in the past about moments where protocol was breached – Michelle Obama famously put her arm around Queen Elizabeth in 2011, but, in all honesty, I doubt very much the Queen was upset by this.
The fuss was not made by the late monarch, who accepted that what mattered was that Americans should be made very welcome on behalf of the UK.
The Obamas meeting the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh during their 2011 state visit. Pic: PA
In 2018, criticism emerged against Trump, who appeared to make the Queen change places when the Guard of Honour was to be inspected.
But, in truth, it was Elizabeth II who had to correct herself because, in her long life as sovereign, she never escorted a visiting president.
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When Trump met the Queen
The escort should stand further from the troops and her self-correction was misinterpreted as his error.
Trump’s visit this time will likely generate just as many headlines, but I don’t think there will be critical moments where a breach occurs.
What it means for Trump – and is it worth it?
Trump’s mother would cut out and keep in a scrapbook containing pictures of the young Princess Elizabeth and her sister, Margaret Rose. It was an era before endless celebrity news, a time when public life revolved around the royals, the war, and survival.
And the president loved his mother, like many men do, so these things mean an enormous amount to him.
Read more:
No state visit has had a backdrop quite like this
Trump and Charles inspect the Guard of Honour. Pic: PA
When the horses go back to the stables and the carriages are put away, the impact of this visit will remain fresh in the mind of a president who may feel his nation – and maybe even he himself – have been affirmed by their ally.
Quite apart from the politics, although much will be said and written on that, there is one great hope for any state visit: that the country so many (myself included) have fought for can be safer and more successful as a result of the pomp and pageantry on display.
The suspect in the Madeleine McCann case has had strict conditions slapped on him ahead of his expected release from prison in the morning.
Christian B, who can’t be fully identified under privacy laws, will have to wear an electronic tag, surrender his passport and register his address with probation officers.
The German drifter, 49, is being freed after serving a seven-year sentence for rape, but remains the only suspect for the abduction of Madeleine, the toddler who vanished on a family holiday in Portugal in 2007.
It was not known where he would head, or who might help him adjust to a new life as the only suspect in the world’s most notorious unsolved child abduction mystery.
Prosecutor Hans Christian Wolters, who leads the Madeleine investigation, believes Christian B, 49, abducted and murdered the three-year-old during a family holiday in Portugal in 2007.
Madeleine vanished from her bed in a rented apartment as her parents and their friends dined nearby at the hotel complex in Praia da Luz on the Algarve coast.
Madeleine McCann
Earlier this week it emerged the Metropolitan Police had sent a formal “international letter of request” to Christian B in order for them to interview him – but he rejected it.
Explainer: The chequered history of Christian B
In the past few days, a probation case conference decided on the restrictions which his lawyers are expected to challenge.
His lawyer Philipp Marquort said: “This is an attempt by the public prosecutor’s office to keep him in a kind of pre-trial detention where they would have access to him at any time.”
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How could Christian B refuse to be interviewed by the Metropolitan Police?
Christian B has denied any involvement in Madeleine’s disappearance.
Madeleine, who was nearly four, was sleeping in a room with her younger twin siblings when she went missing.
Donald Trump has arrived in the UK for his second state visit, telling reporters Britain is “a very special place”.
But as he headed to the residence of the US ambassador to the UK in central London to spend Tuesday night, giant projections of the president alongside paedophile Jeffrey Epstein were beamed on to Windsor Castle by protesters.
It is there he will meet with King Charles later today.
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Projection on to Windsor Castle highlights Trump-Epstein links
Four people were arrested on “suspicion of malicious communications” after the images of Mr Trump and Epstein appeared on the landmark, Thames Valley Police said.
Mr Trump has faced mounting questions about his relationship with the disgraced late billionaire after messages allegedly sent to him by the president were published by Congress earlier this month.
The apparent notes – which Mr Trump denies having written – appeared in a 2003 “birthday book” for Epstein which also included messages from Peter Mandelson, who has since been sacked as Sir Keir Starmer’s ambassador to the US over his ties to the financier.
Trump’s mugshot was also beamed on to the castle. Pic: Reuters
Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper was among those who greeted the president and First Lady Melania as they disembarked their official plane at Stansted airport on Tuesday evening.
An honour guard of RAF personnel from The King’s Colour Squadron lined up as he stepped off the plane.
Trump and First Lady Melania Trump disembark Air Force One. Pic: Reuters
Trump excited to see ‘my friend’ Charles
Speaking to reporters mid-flight, Trump said: “My relationship is very good with the UK, and Charles, as you know, who’s now King, is my friend.
“It’s the first time this has ever happened where somebody was honoured twice. So, it’s a great honour.”
He told the journalists “everybody is looking forward to it. You’re going to have the best pictures”.
The president speaks to reporters on his way over. Pic: Reuters
To mark the president’s arrival, a new UK-US tech deal was announced that could generate billions of pounds of investment for Britain.
Sir Keir – who will host Mr Trump at his Chequers country retreat tomorrow – said the deal would deliver “growth, security and opportunity up and down the country”.
The “tech prosperity deal”, announced as Mr Trump touched down, will see the UK and US co-operate in areas including artificial intelligence (AI), quantum computing and nuclear power.
It comes alongside £31bn of investment in Britain from top US tech firms, including £22bn from Microsoft.
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Mark Stone on the significance of Trump’s trip
‘I’m into helping Britain’
It also follows the agreement of an economic deal in May that covered a reduction in some of Mr Trump’s tariffs.
However, the government is understood to have given up hope – for now at least – of reducing the president’s levy on steel back down to zero. It currently stands at 25%.
Mr Trump had hinted at possible tariff relief for British steel as he boarded Air Force One, telling reporters he was “into helping” Britain on refining the trade deal signed earlier this year.
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