Man accused of murdering Hartlepool pensioner ‘turned down for asylum in Germany’, court hears

A man accused of murdering a pensioner in Hartlepool was turned down for asylum in Germany, his housemate told investigators.

Jurors heard Ahmed Alid, 45, attacked Javed Nouri whilst he slept at their shared accommodation in Wharton Terrace on 15 October 2023.

Mr Nouri, 31, managed to fight him off despite being stabbed six times, before Ahmed, a Moroccan national, fled into the town centre where he fatally stabbed 70-year-old Terence Carney, Teesside Crown Court has heard.

The prosecution has said he was to tell police he stabbed the two men “in revenge for what he believed to be the killing of children by Israel”.

Mr Nouri, via a Farsi interpreter, told police he had moved into the Home Office-approved accommodation around three months before the attack.

He said he realised Alid “was extreme in his religion” and was a strict Muslim.

Mr Nouri told police: “He would tell me his family is in Germany and they did not give me asylum there – ‘that’s why I came here’.

“(He said) ‘I am waiting to get a decision for my asylum and to bring them over here’.

“I responded that I pray for you so you can bring your family here because it is difficult to be away from your family.”

Mr Nouri said he realised that he was an "extreme" Muslim after Alid challenged the housemates over beer that had been left in the fridge, saying it should not be in the house.

Mr Nouri had concerns over Alid, as he had recently converted to Christianity.

He went to the housing bosses, as well as contacting the Home Office with his worries about Alid.

“I told them that we are not safe here… He could attack us at any moment," he told detectives.

Housing bosses warned Alid he would lose his accommodation if his behaviour continued, Mr Nouri said.

According to Mr Nouri, he saw Alid one night in the shared kitchen "laughing" whilst watching coverage of the Hamas attacks on his phone.

Mr Nouri spoke to a housemate and asked: “How could somebody be happy with seeing humans getting killed?”

Alid had also started to routinely carry a knife and was scaring the other housemates, Mr Nouri told police.

He said he told a friend from church about what was happening, and twice told police about what Alid was doing.

Alid denies murdering Mr Carney, attempted murder and two counts of assaulting detectives after he was arrested.

The trial continues.

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