That is the second a person stabbed a younger Saudi Arabian scholar in Cambridge throughout a late-night altercation exterior a luxurious lodging block final yr.
Stunning footage caught on CCTV reveals Chas Corrigan, 22, reaching right into a pocket of his shorts the place he had a knife that was used to kill Mohammed Algasim, 20.
The coed was stabbed within the neck and collapsed a brief distance away after operating from the spot.
Corrigan is at present on trial for homicide and the jury has heard that he admits taking Mr Algasim’s life however claims it was in self-defence as he feared he was going to be attacked.
Opening the case yesterday, prosecutor Nicholas Hearn stated: ‘Mr Algasim posed no risk to anyone. The defendant was the aggressor right here. He approached Mr Algasim holding a knife in his proper pocket, prepared for use.
‘He made a deliberate resolution to make use of that knife to intentionally stab Mr Algasim.
‘This was an unprovoked and mindless act of violence. It was not an accident. It was not self-defence. It was homicide.’
Mohammed Algasim, 20, was pronounced lifeless exterior a block of luxurious flats in Cambridge simply after midnight on August 2
Chas Corrigan, 22, denies murdering the scholar who was attending a language faculty within the historic metropolis
Footage caught on CCTV reveals Corrigan reaching right into a pocket of his shorts the place he had a knife that was used to kill Mr Algasim
However Jane Osborne KC stated her shopper had ‘no intention of utilizing that knife’ and had it solely to ‘frighten off an attacker’.
She advised the jury at Cambridge Crown Courtroom that Corrigan supposed to ‘intimidate and scare, relatively than damage’, including: ‘He accepts his actions resulted, regrettably, within the demise of Mr Algasim.’
The footage reveals Corrigan, who’s wearing a yellow high-visibility jacket and had spent the night ‘ingesting and utilizing medication’, approaching a bunch of individuals exterior the lodging block close to the historic college metropolis’s railway station.
He approaches Mr Algasim, who’s sitting on the low wall of a disabled ramp exterior the doorway the place he’s ‘smiling and chatting’ with pals.
The pair converse briefly, the courtroom has been advised, and the defendant walks away however returns after Mr Alglasim, who was in Cambridge for a language faculty summer season camp, allegedly mutters one thing.
As Corrrigan nears him, he shouts ‘What did you say?’ in an ‘offended and aggressive method’, the prosecution says.
Mr Algasim stands up and the CCTV reveals Corrigan reaching into his proper pocket to retrieve the blade.
A second piece of footage instantly after the lethal blow reveals Mr Algasim operating away down the road, whereas Corrigan briefly runs in the identical path earlier than heading down a close-by pedestrianised space.
Floral tributes had been left on the street close to the place Saudi Arabian nationwide Mr Algasim died
Jurors at Cambridge Crown Courtroom had been advised that a lot of the case would depend on CCTV, together with footage of the alleged incident itself. Pictured: Chas Corrigan, 22, who denies murdering Mohammed Algasim, 20
Mr Algasim is alleged to have been approached by Corrigan who a jury was advised had been ingesting in a close-by pub and should have taken medication. Pictured: Corrigan who denies murdering Mr Algasim
Folks might be heard screaming because the surprising scene, from late at night time on August 1 final yr, unfolds.
A autopsy examination later confirmed the only wound hit Mr Algasim’s carotid artery and jugular vein, inflicting huge haemorrhaging.
One other scholar who witnessed the incident, Abdullah Saleh A Bin Shuail, advised police in a press release that the defendant initially ‘went over to Mr Algasim and acquired inside touching distance of him’.
Corrigan allegedly stated one thing however he could not hear what was stated and ‘couldn’t hear whether or not Mr Algasim stated something in reply’, the jury was advised.
The defendant then walked in direction of the close by practice station and Mr Algasim stated ‘one thing to the defendant however [he] might solely make out one phrase – ‘centre’.
‘The defendant turned and began to come back again in direction of them… his proper hand was in his proper pocket…’ Mr Hearn stated.
‘He was saying ‘What did you say? What did you say?’ in a really offended and aggressive method.’
Mr Algasim is alleged to have stayed the place he was and the defendant shouted: ‘I do know what meaning’ earlier than he bent down and ‘put his face very near Mr Algasim’s face’, after which his alleged sufferer stood up.
Corrigan allegedly spoke to Mr Algasim, who was sitting on a low wall, earlier than strolling away. Pictured: Corrigan who denies murdering Mr Algasim
‘He [Mr Bin Shuail] then noticed the defendant punch Mr Algasim onerous to the left aspect of the neck. However he then noticed that the defendant was holding a big knife in his proper hand,’ the prosecutor added.
Corrigan allegedly shouted at Mr Bin Shuail ‘What you do, what you do’ earlier than operating away.
The courtroom heard that the defendant, who has admitted possessing a knife, had been ingesting in a close-by pub, the Earl of Derby, the place he confirmed the weapon to a different drinker, Stephen Papillon.
Giving proof yesterday, Mr Papillon stated he thought Irish-born Corrigan – who requested him to purchase him a pint, confirmed him pretend £10 notes and tried to borrow £50 – had the blade for ‘self-defence’ because the defendant talked about ‘he had been shot and stabbed earlier than’.
He described Corrigan as ‘over-friendly’, relatively than ‘badly behaved’.
A pal of the defendant who lives close by, Simona Miksykte, right this moment advised the courtroom she had seen him earlier within the night and he was performing surprisingly.
‘That night time I do not even know what came to visit him. He was sensitive and pushy. I did not recognise him,’ she stated.
‘He did not act like he usually does. [The touching] was like sexually, like groping.’
Ms Miksykte stated she had recognized Corrigan for round two years by way of her ex-boyfriend and ‘knew he was a cocaine consumer’.
The courtroom has been advised she fashioned the view that he ‘might have taken medication [on the night of the attack as] she had seen him drunk on earlier events and this appeared totally different’.
A safety guard who was on the scene of the assault additionally advised jurors right this moment how he ran over to assist Mr Algasim after he heard a commotion.
‘He had a lady, one in every of his pals, on her knees [beside him], screaming and crying,’ Brandon Cities stated.
Moments later the defendant ‘shoulder-barged me, then carried on operating’.
Different CCTV confirmed the defendant, who lives in Cambridge, had discarded his jacked in a avenue close to the scene of the stabbing, the courtroom has heard.
Corrigan was arrested within the metropolis the next day and refused to remark throughout a police interview.
The trial continues.
