UK: Moroccan asylum seeker found guilty of Gaza conflict-motivated murder

A UK court has found Ahmed Alid, a 45-year-old Moroccan asylum seeker who fatally stabbed a stranger in an alleged protest over the conflict in the Gaza Strip, guilty of murder.

The jury on Thursday made the decision to hold Alid responsible for murdering Terence Carney, 70, and attempting to murder his 32-year-old housemate, Javed Nouri, whom Alid stabbed repeatedly after breaking into his bedroom. In addition, he was charged with two counts of assaulting police officers.

During the trial at Teesside Crown Court, the Moroccan admitted stabbing the men but said he never intended to kill them. He claimed to have “lost his mind” due to an accumulation of stress.

However, during a police interview, Alid claimed that he carried out these attacks because “Israel had killed innocent children” and acknowledged that he would have killed more people if he had access to a machine gun or other weapons.

Victim’s family reacts to verdict

In a statement, Mr. Carney’s family thanked everyone involved in the investigation and the judicial process, which allowed “the correct decision” to be made against Alid this Thursday.

“We are extremely grateful (… )We would not want anyone else to have to go through what we have had to go through over the last six months, and what we will continue to go through for the rest of our lives,” reads the statement, which points out that, although their lives will never be the same, again they find comfort in that justice was done.

“We have watched the whole trial intently, and whilst today’s guilty verdict will not bring back Terence, our beloved husband, father, and grandfather, we can take some small comfort in knowing that justice has been served.”

It is important to note that Alid’s sentence has yet to be determined. The judge in charge of the case has scheduled the hearing for May 17. Meanwhile, the man remains in preventive detention.