An asylum seeker 'cursed' two of his housemates calling them 'devils' before murdering a pensioner in a street, a court has heard.
Moroccan-born Muslim Ahmed Alid is accused of stabbing Terence Carney to death in Hartlepool town centre in October last year. Prosecution told the trial at Teesside crown court the attack occurred eight days after the October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel. The court heard Alid, 45, first attacked Iranian Javed Nouri, a Christian convert, before fleeing the house and fatally stabbing 70-year-old Mr Carney.
The jury were told Alid was motivated to seek "revenge" for the Palestinian victims of Israel following news of the reignited conflict. Mr Nouri was stabbed six times while asleep in his room at the Home Office-approved property in the County Durham town, the trial was told. He then managed to 'fight him off', before Alid allegedly fled. It was claimed how the two housemates had fallen out over their respective religions, with fellow housemate Mohammed Karimi - also an Iranian Christian-convert - telling investigators Alid would curse them in the house, saying in Arabic, "you are devils".
The court heard Mr Karimi told detectives: “I could ignore that but Javed could not.” Asked to explain why he thought Alid would curse them, Mr Karimi replied: “I am from Iran, a Muslim country. He hated when I was drinking (alcohol) or having a girlfriend. I am a Christian and Javed, he was a Muslim and he turned Christian.” Explaining the relevance of Muslims using the word 'devil', he added: “When you see someone you don’t like, anyone who is not Muslim, anyone or anything who offends your religion, (they say) ‘Devil go away, you are a devil, God damn you’.”
Mr Karimi said some Muslims had “no problems” with people from another religion. “You have some Muslims like Ahmed, they just want to force you to be Muslim,” he said. Alid denies murder, attempted murder and two counts of assaulting female detectives after he was arrested. The trial continues.