Asylum seeker inspired by ‘revenge’ for Israel-Hamas war guilty of murdering pensioner
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A Moroccan asylum seeker who claimed he was acting in revenge for the Israel-Hamas conflict has been convicted of murdering a pensioner in Hartlepool.
Ahmed Alid, 45, stabbed 70-year-old Terence Carney to death just days after the Oct 7 terror attacks last year.
Alid was also found guilty of the attempted murder of his housemate Javed Nouri, 31, whom he knifed in his bed minutes before attacking Mr Carney.
He was further convicted of assaulting two detectives in the interview room at Middlesbrough police station after he had been questioned over the stabbings.
The judge, Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb, said she would sentence Alid on May 17. Alid, who had the verdicts delivered to him through a translator, showed no emotion when they were announced.
Alid, a devout Muslim who was born in Morocco, came to Britain in 2020 and claimed asylum. He told officials he had been born in Fez but raised in Algeria, possibly in the belief that it would improve his chances of being granted asylum.
Alid claimed he had left North Africa for Spain in 2007 and had then spent years drifting around Europe, spending time in France, Italy, Germany, Scandinavia, Austria and the Netherlands.
It is not clear whether he had ever attempted to claim asylum in any of the other countries before coming to the UK in 2020.
Ali travelled by ferry from the Hook of Holland to the north-east of England, where he made an asylum application. He was placed in Home Office-approved accommodation in Hartlepool, along with other asylum seekers.
But his housemates reported a concerning change in his behaviour following the Oct 7 Hamas terror attacks on Israel.
Mr Nouri, who survived the knife attack on him, told police later: “He was sitting on the kitchen chair and checking the news on his mobile phone. He was laughing, and every time they would kill somebody he would praise God.”
Two days later, Mr Nouri attended Hartlepool police station to alert them to his concerns, and made an appointment to speak with an officer the following week.
He spoke to officers on Oct 13 and warned them about Ali’s behaviour, mentioning that he had been carrying a knife in the kitchen of the house.
But as no specific threats were reported at that time, it is understood a housing manager agreed to talk to Ali and warned him that he would be evicted if there was any repeat.
The trial heard how, two days later, Alid had broken into the bedroom of his housemate and attacked him while he slept.
He shouted “Allahu Akbar” – “God is great” – during the attack, which left the Christian convert fighting for his life.
Alid then walked out into the street and, after coming across Mr Carney, who was on an early morning walk, stabbed him six times and left him for dead.
Following his arrest, and while in a holding cell at Middlesbrough police station, Alid launched into a speech in Arabic saying that “Allah willing, Gaza would return to be an Arab country”.
During a subsequent police interview, he told officers he had launched his attack because “Israel had killed innocent children”.
Alid admitted Mr Carney had been “innocent”, but justified the attack by saying Britain had created the “Zionist entity” of Israel and should make them leave Gaza, adding: “They killed children and I killed an old man.”
After the trial, Detective Chief Superintendent James Dunkerley, the head of counter-terrorism policing north-east, said: “The horrific attacks in Hartlepool were unprovoked and deeply disturbing.
“I have no doubt that the swift response of the attending officers prevented further harm or loss of life that morning. We’re grateful for their bravery in the face of a dangerous and unpredictable suspect.”
Victoria Fuller, Cleveland Police’s deputy chief constable, said the stabbings “shook the local community to its core”.
She said: “Alid’s actions not only left a family devastated, but also caused significant fear and distress amongst residents in Hartlepool and beyond.”
Because of Cleveland Police’s prior contact, the matter was referred to the Independent Office for Police Conduct. The situation was investigated, but the IOPC ultimately cleared the force of any wrongdoing.
