Hartlepool murder accused 'felt unwell' and thought he might faint at time of attack

A man who fatally stabbed a pensioner in the street has told jurors he felt unwell and that he might faint when he did it.

Ahmed Alid, who is 45, is charged with the murder of 70-year-old Terence Carney in Hartlepool town centre, minutes after repeatedly knifing his sleeping housemate Javed Nouri, 31, in his bed.

Alid admits stabbing both Mr Nouri and Mr Carney and agrees it was wrong, but denies he intended to cause either of them serious harm or that he was “responsible” for their injuries.

The prosecution at Teesside Crown Court has argued that Alid, an asylum seeker from Morocco who moved with family to Algeria, acted out of “revenge” for the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict.

Both Mr Carney and Mr Nouri were stabbed six times in the early hours of 15 October, eight days after the Hamas attacks on Israel. Mr Nouri survived after fighting off his attacker.

Giving evidence, Alid - a former pastry chef and shop owner - told the jury that he did stab Mr Nouri and Mr Carney and that it was wrong to do so.

Speaking from the witness box, Alid said he felt as if someone else was pushing him when he forced his way into Mr Nouri’s room at the accommodation they shared in Wharton Terrace in Hartlepool.

The jury has heard how Mr Nouri clashed with Alid about the property being dirty when he moved in.

After stabbing Mr Nouri, Alid claimed he had left the accommodation in the early hours of October 15, looking for a clinic as he had suffered a cut hand during the fight.

He said he recalled seeing Mr Carney coming towards him and the defendant remembered shouting “Free Palestine” in a loud voice.

He claimed Mr Carney, whom he said he had seen out and about previously, said something like “Go back to your country”.

Via an Arabic interpreter, Alid told jurors: “My hand was bleeding, I had lost a lot of blood and he came towards me. I felt like dizziness.”

John Elvidge KC, defending, asked: “Why did you stab him?”

Alid replied: “I was not feeling well. I thought I am going to faint and he will take the knife from me and he will stab me.”

After he knifed the pensioner, Mr Carney fell and began to crawl on the ground, Alid said.

The defendant told the jury he believed Mr Carney was looking for a stone with which to hit him. Mr Elvidge asked: “Did you intend to cause him really serious harm?”

Alid replied: “No, he was an old man. Any normal person at that age would never talk to anyone at this time.”

Earlier, Alid said he came to Europe in 2007 saying intelligence services had been "harassing" him and monitoring his shop.

Over the years that followed, he had spent time in Spain, France, Italy, Germany, Scandinavia, the Netherlands and Austria before coming to the UK in 2020 via ferry.

The court heard he was arrested as he did not have the correct papers and he applied for asylum. When asked in court if that application was successful, Alid said: “I didn’t have any answer.”

Alid was allowed to work four hours a week, but that did not lead to him getting a job, the court heard. Alid, who had no previous convictions, was a fitness enthusiast and could regularly be seen running in Hartlepool, jurors were told.

He denies murder, attempted murder and assaulting two female detectives after they interviewed him.

The case continues.

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