Hartlepool: Man who prowled streets before stabbing ‘defenceless’ grandfather ‘for people of Gaza’ jailed

Published

1 year ago

May 17, 2024

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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.

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.”

UK

Premier League clubs at risk of legal action over unlicensed casino sponsors

Published

1 hour ago

May 25, 2025

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Premier League clubs at risk of legal action over unlicensed casino sponsors

Casinos sponsoring two Premier League clubs are accepting UK customers without a licence, putting club officers at risk of prosecution, Sky News has learned.

The gambling websites, BC.Game and DEBET, are the matchday shirt sponsors of Leicester City and Wolverhampton Wanderers, respectively.

But an investigation by anti-gambling advert campaigners, shared with Sky News, suggests the casinos have continued to accept UK customers – despite this becoming unlawful after they lost their licences to operate in the UK.

DEBET lost its licence on 15 May, while BC.Game lost its licence in December 2024.

Neither club has indicated that they intend to end the sponsorships, despite criticism from campaigners and warnings from the Gambling Commission.

With the end of the 2024/25 season this weekend, both clubs are now half-way through two-year sponsorship deals with the casinos – putting them in a difficult position for next season.

The campaign group Coalition to End Gambling Ads (CEGA) told Sky News it was able to make deposits on both gambling websites, despite the sites having no licence to accept UK customers.

CEGA also successfully deposited cash on Burnley FC sponsor 96.com. Burnley are due to be promoted to the Premier League next season.

The findings come one week after the Gambling Commission warned five football clubs, including Wolverhampton and Burnley, that their officers “may be liable to prosecution and, if convicted, face a fine, imprisonment or both if they promote unlicensed gambling businesses that transact with consumers in Great Britain”.

The Commission had issued a similar warning to Leicester City in February.

It made clear then that the clubs must either cut ties with the casinos or ensure they are not accessible to UK customers “by any means” – including virtual private networks (VPNs) – software used to hide a user’s real location.

Other than the need to use a VPN, CEGA director Will Prochaska says it “really wasn’t very difficult” to access the sites.

The Gambling Commission declined to be interviewed by Sky News, but said that “where we have evidence that meets the standard for criminal prosecution we will take appropriate action”.

Head of enforcement at the Commission John Pierce previously said the body would “conduct ongoing spot checks as necessary to ensure they are not accessible to consumers in Great Britain by any means”.

Mr Prochaska, however, said the Commission was taking “far too long” to take action.

“Far too many children, far too many football fans, are seeing these adverts every day,” he said. “It’s got to stop.”

Leicester City’s sponsor has had no UK licence for almost six months

The three sites that appear on the matchday shirts of Leicester, Wolves and Burnley were previously licensed by TGP Europe, a company based on the Isle of Man.

On 15 May, TGP Europe surrendered its UK gambling licence to avoid a £3.3m fine, leaving DEBET and 96.com unable to legally accept UK customers.

Leicester City sponsor BC.Game has been unlicensed in the UK since it parted ways with TGP Europe in December 2024 – almost six months ago.

Mr Prochaska said he contacted Leicester City on 13 March to alert them that BC.Game was still accepting UK customers.

“In fact, it was one of the easiest for me to gamble on – there were very few checks whatsoever,” he says. “But Leicester don’t seem to have done anything about it, and it’s still on the front of their shirts.”

Leicester City FC did not respond to a request for comment.

Sky News was able to sign up to every single site

Bournemouth, Fulham and Newcastle United are also sponsored by casinos that were formerly licensed by TGP Europe, but have been unlicensed since 15 May.

These casinos (bj88, SBOTOP and FUN88) are no longer able to legally accept UK customers.

However, Sky News was able to use a VPN to sign up to all three casinos, as well as those sponsoring Leicester City, Wolverhampton and Burnley.

On all six websites, Sky was able to access QR codes for making cryptocurrency deposits. Sky News did not attempt to make any deposits.

All six casinos are forbidden by law from accepting UK customers.

Yet Burnley sponsor 96.com allowed Sky News to sign up using a Telegram account registered to a UK phone number.

The other websites all required phone numbers to be entered upon registration, which could be used as an additional layer of security to filter out UK customers.

However, most of the websites did not check whether the phone number provided was genuine.

Only one website, Leicester City sponsor BC.Game, did check.

However, after confirming the phone number’s authenticity, BC.Game allowed registration to proceed – even though Sky News had provided a UK phone number.

Sky News presented these findings to the football clubs concerned, to TGP Europe and to the Gambling Commission, but did not receive any comment.

Anyone concerned about their gambling, or that of a loved one, can visit BeGambleAware.org for free, confidential advice and support, or The National Gambling Helpline is available on 0808 8020 133 and operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

The Data and Forensics team is a multi-skilled unit dedicated to providing transparent journalism from Sky News. We gather, analyse and visualise data to tell data-driven stories. We combine traditional reporting skills with advanced analysis of satellite images, social media and other open source information. Through multimedia storytelling we aim to better explain the world while also showing how our journalism is done.

UK

Former BBC executive and presenter Alan Yentob dies

Published

1 hour ago

May 25, 2025

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Former BBC executive and presenter Alan Yentob dies

Alan Yentob, the former BBC presenter and executive, has died aged 78.

A statement from his family, shared by the BBC, said Yentob died on Saturday.

His wife Philippa Walker said: “For Jacob, Bella and I, every day with Alan held the promise of something unexpected. Our life was exciting, he was exciting.

“He was curious, funny, annoying, late, and creative in every cell of his body. But more than that, he was the kindest of men and a profoundly moral man. He leaves in his wake a trail of love a mile wide.”

Yentob joined the BBC as a trainee in 1968 and held a number of positions – including controller of BBC One and BBC Two, director of television, and head of music and art.

He was also the director of BBC drama, entertainment, and children’s TV.

Yentob launched CBBC and CBeebies, and his drama commissions included Pride And Prejudice and Middlemarch.

The TV executive was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) by the King in 2024 for services to the arts and media.

In a tribute, the BBC’s director-general Tim Davie said: “Alan Yentob was a towering figure in British broadcasting and the arts. A creative force and a cultural visionary, he shaped decades of programming at the BBC and beyond, with a passion for storytelling and public service that leave a lasting legacy.

“Above all, Alan was a true original. His passion wasn’t performative – it was personal. He believed in the power of culture to enrich, challenge and connect us.”

BBC Radio 4 presenter Amol Rajan described him on Instagram as “such a unique and kind man: an improbable impresario from unlikely origins who became a towering figure in the culture of post-war Britain.

“I commend his spirit to the living.”

UK

Mother and three children who died in house fire in London named by police

Published

2 hours ago

May 25, 2025

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Mother and three children who died in house fire in London named by police

A mother and three of her children who died in a house fire in northwest London have been named by police.

Warning: This article contains pictures of a fire in which people died

Detectives say Nusrat Usman, 43, Maryam Mikaiel, 15, Musa Usman, eight, and Raees Usman, four, died following the fire in Stonebridge, near Wembley, in the early hours of Saturday.

A woman in her 70s was taken to hospital but has since been released. A 13-year-old girl remains in hospital in a critical condition.

A 41-year-old man was arrested at the scene and has since been bailed. He was subsequently detained under the Mental Health Act.

Flowers and a blue teddy bear have been left near the scene, where crews wearing helmets and respiratory equipment were seen building scaffolding against the burnt-out buildings.

Neighbour Cecilia Marquis, 60, said she was “stunned by the devastation”.

“This will leave a devastating impact,” Ms Marquis, who witnessed the fire, said.

Witness Mohamed Labidi, 38, said he “can’t even look at the house right now”.

“We used to socialise together.

“They’re very good people, no problems on their side at all. It’s really shocking. It’s a really strong community here, we look after each other.”

A neighbour, who asked not to be named, said: “It’s horrible, we saw people running outside.

“It’s hard to process. I only just moved in, so it’s hard to think about it.”

Eight fire engines and around 60 firefighters responded to the blaze, London Fire Brigade (LFB) said.

Two terrace houses, each with three floors, were severely damaged in the fire, which was under control by around 3.25am, the fire service added.

Superintendent Steve Allen, from the Met’s local policing team in northwest London, said: “Our thoughts go out to all those impacted by what has happened.

“Specialist officers are continuing to support the wider family who have asked for privacy at this deeply upsetting time.

“Local officers are working closely with officers from the Specialist Crime Command on what continues to be a very complex investigation.”

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said in a post on X: “This is devastating news and my thoughts are with the family, friends and wider community of the four people who sadly have lost their lives.

“I remain in close contact with the London Fire Brigade and Metropolitan Police as they work to establish the cause of the fire and offer support to all those impacted.”

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