A terrorist who stabbed a stranger to death in an attack motivated by the conflict in Gaza has been sentenced to life in prison, with a minimum term of 44 years.

Ahmed Ali Alid, 45, an asylum seeker who claimed to be from Morocco, would have killed more people if he had not been cornered by armed police while seeking out more victims on 15 October, according to Cleveland Police.

Alid was found guilty last month at Teesside Crown Court and the judge Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb said he “did not have the courage to admit his guilt in court” and had no history of mental illness.

He had attempted to kill his housemate, a Christian convert, then prowled the streets of Hartlepool until he came across Terence Carney, 70, stabbing him six times in the chest, abdomen and back in a terrorist attack.

Footage of his arrest shows armed police shouting for Alid to “get down on the ground”. Red laser dots from police guns then cover his body as he appears to ignore their requests.

After he was detained, he told police the attack – a week after the Hamas attacks on Israel – was “for the people of Gaza” and he had wanted to kill more victims.

“I swear by Allah if I had a machine gun and I had more weapons that they would be in thousands,” he reportedly said during his police interview.

Alid attacked two female officers

At the end of the interview, Alid attacked two female interviewing officers, grabbing one of them and wrestling her to the ground while yelling “Palestine” and “Allahu Akbar [god is great]”, causing his solicitor to dial 999.

Prosecutor Jonathan Sandiford KC told Teesside Crown Court he was seeking a whole life order for the killing on the grounds it was a murder “done for the purpose of advancing a political, religious, racial or ideological cause”.

Although Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb agreed they were terror offences, she did not impose a whole-life term.

The court heard how the former pastry chef had travelled from Morocco to Spain in 2007 and had spent time in 13 different European countries – including Italy and Germany – before arriving in Middlesborough by ferry from the Netherlands in 2020.

The judge said Alid was not challenged by border force personnel upon his arrival.

He claimed asylum and spent the next three years living in a hotel in Hull and then state-funded accommodation in a terraced house in Hartlepool, waiting for his claim to be processed.

Selfie images showed him on a beach and in the city centres of Newcastle, Birmingham and London.

Sources say it is unclear what his real name and date of birth are. He spent time in Algeria where his mother, father and sisters all lived.

His last call on the evening before the attack was to Algeria, although investigators do not believe he had help with the attack.

Victim was ‘effectively defenceless’

Alid’s housemate Javed Nouri, 31, an Iranian asylum seeker, described how he found Alid laughing and watching videos on his phone following the 7 October attacks by Hamas in Israel.

Mr Nouri alerted police on 13 October and said Alid would sit in the kitchen with a knife and give him “bad looks” after realising he had converted to Christianity.

The police concluded it was the matter of those responsible for the house to manage, according to the judge.

Alid broke into bedroom with two kitchen knives

Two days later, when Mr Nouri was asleep, Alid broke into his bedroom at around 5am brandishing two kitchen knives and stabbing him in the chest.

He managed to kick Alid away and run for the door but was then attacked from behind and stabbed in the face, before grappling with Alid and getting him into a headlock.

Another housemate came to his assistance and they bundled Alid out of the room and sat with their backs against the door as he kicked at it, attempting to get back in.

During a 999 call, a man is heard shouting “Jesus Christ” while another person, believed to be Alid is heard saying “Allahu Akbar” multiple times.

‘Random targeting of lone man in the street’

Alid went onto the street and was captured on CCTV footage holding a knife with a 20cm blade in the air, walking along and continuing to say “Allahu Akbar”.

He approached Mr Carney after a few minutes, who was out on a morning walk, and confronted him.

CCTV footage showed Alid stabbing Mr Carney a number of times while his victim was “effectively defenceless” and crying out “no, no,” prosecutor Mr Sandiford told the court. The judge said Alid showed Mr Carney “no mercy”.

Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb sentenced Alid to 44 years and 52 days for murder, taking into account the 213 days already spent on remand.

He was also sentenced to life, with a minimum term of 19 years and 52 days, for attempted murder, but this will run concurrently with the longer sentence.

There will also be no additional time served for the assault of the two interviewing police officers, she said.

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Detective Chief Superintendent James Dunkerley, head of counter-terrorism policing north east, commented: “Alid attacked Javed Nouri and was then out seeking other victims and unfortunately crossed Mr Carney’s path. It was a horrific, unprovoked attack, and Mr Carney unfortunately stood no chance at all.”

“If it hadn’t been for Cleveland Police and the swift response prompted by the calls from Mr Nouri and others in the property, I genuinely believe that we would have been looking at more victims, more injuries, and I do think more people could have lost their lives.”

Mr Carney’s family described him as a “beloved husband, father and grandfather” and thanked Mr Nouri and the other housemates for giving evidence in the trial as “the voice of our loved one, when he was unable to speak out for himself”.

They added in a statement: “We would not want anyone else to have to go through what we have had to go through over the last six months, and what we will continue to go through for the rest of our lives. For us, things will never be the same again. We can take some small comfort in knowing that justice has been served.”