The family of a Saudi student stabbed to death in Cambridge have arrived in the UK to take his body home, his uncle has revealed.
Mohammed Yousef Alqassem, 20, was killed in what police have described as an “unprovoked attack” while he was on a 10-week placement at an English language school. A 21-year-old man, Chas Corrigan, has been charged with murder and possession of a knife in a public place, and is due to appear at Cambridge Crown Court on Wednesday.
Majed Abalkhail, Mr Alqassem's uncle, told The National family members have travelled to the city to take his body back to their homeland. “Mohammed’s father is currently in Cambridge, accompanied by some of his brothers, to follow up on the procedures for bringing Mohammed home, in co-ordination with the Saudi embassy,” he said.
Mr Abalkhail reiterated his view on crime in Britain, saying he had a sense of “deep frustration and growing anger” that the country was losing its reputation for being safe. “People from various countries, including many in the Arab world, are seriously rethinking any plans to visit or study in the UK,” he said.
“This is the hard truth being spoken in private conversations and social circles – and it’s time it was said out loud. Britain is rapidly losing its global reputation, not just as a centre of education, but even as a travel destination.
“Sadly, Britain is becoming a symbol of lawlessness, insecurity, and government failure, and this perception is spreading fast among people of all backgrounds.” He cited the example of the fatal stabbing of Mohammed Afzal, 19, in Manchester as an example of Britain being a “dangerous environment plagued by theft, stabbings and violent crime”.
A man has been charged in relation to the death of Mr Afzal, who was killed in a car park on Friday. Two men remain in custody while two other men, who were also arrested, have been released on bail.
Mr Abalkhail earlier paid tribute to his nephew as a “calm, kind-hearted young man” who dreamt of pursuing a career as a doctor.
Cambridgeshire Police said that its officers were called to Mill Park in Cambridge at 11.27pm on Friday following reports of violence. Mr Alqassem was pronounced dead at the scene at 12.01am on Saturday despite the efforts of paramedics.
EF International Language Campuses Cambridge, a private school offering English language courses to overseas students, said it was “deeply saddened” to confirm one of its adult students had died.
In recent months there have been reports about crime in Britain, in particular London, and criticism of the police’s ability to deal with it. Official statistics show a mixed picture, with some violent crime falling while theft and some knife crime has increased.
In the year to March 2025, the police recorded 6.6 million crimes – similar to the previous year’s figure of 6.7 million, but up from 4.2 million in the year ending in March 2015.
Attacks involving the use of knives have gone up from just under 14,000 a decade ago to around 22,000 this year. Knife-enabled murders fell by 23 per cent to 204 offences, compared with 265 the year before.
In 2024, London recorded nearly 17,000 knife crime offences − an 86.6 per cent increase over 10 years. In the same year there were over 35,000 robberies – an increase of 18.2 per cent over just three years.
In the year to March there were 535 murders – more or less the same as 10 years ago and down from 868 in 2005. The UK has also experienced a wave of "Rolex ripper" luxury watch thefts and mobile phone snatches, which the police appear to have struggled to deal with.
Analysis by the insurance company SquareTrade Europe of mobile theft and loss of data from 12 European markets found that the UK now represents 40 per of all European claims.
Terror attacks in Paris, November 13, 2015
- At 9.16pm, three suicide attackers killed one person outside the Atade de France during a foootball match between France and Germany
- At 9.25pm, three attackers opened fire on restaurants and cafes over 20 minutes, killing 39 people
- Shortly after 9.40pm, three other attackers launched a three-hour raid on the Bataclan, in which 1,500 people had gathered to watch a rock concert. In total, 90 people were killed
- Salah Abdeslam, the only survivor of the terrorists, did not directly participate in the attacks, thought to be due to a technical glitch in his suicide vest
- He fled to Belgium and was involved in attacks on Brussels in March 2016. He is serving a life sentence in France
THURSDAY'S ORDER OF PLAY
Centre Court
Starting at 10am:
Lucrezia Stefanini v Elena Rybakina (6)
Aryna Sabalenka (4) v Polona Hercog
Sofia Kenin (1) v Zhaoxuan Yan
Kristina Mladenovic v Garbine Muguruza (5)
Sorana Cirstea v Karolina Pliskova (3)
Jessica Pegula v Elina Svitolina (2)
Court 1
Starting at 10am:
Sara Sorribes Tormo v Nadia Podoroska
Marketa Vondrousova v Su-Wei Hsieh
Elise Mertens (7) v Alize Cornet
Tamara Zidansek v Jennifer Brady (11)
Heather Watson v Jodie Burrage
Vera Zvonareva v Amandine Hesse
Court 2
Starting at 10am:
Arantxa Rus v Xiyu Wang
Maria Kostyuk v Lucie Hradecka
Karolina Muchova v Danka Kovinic
Cori Gauff v Ulrikke Eikeri
Mona Barthel v Anastasia Gasanova
Court 3
Starting at 10am:
Kateryna Bondarenko v Yafan Wang
Aliaksandra Sasnovich v Anna Bondar
Bianca Turati v Yaroslava Shvedova
'The Predator'
Dir: Shane Black
Starring: Olivia Munn, Boyd Holbrook, Keegan-Michael Key
Two and a half stars
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm
Price: From Dh1,700,000
Available: Now
Sri Lanka's T20I squad
Thisara Perera (captain), Dilshan Munaweera, Danushka Gunathilaka, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Ashan Priyanjan, Mahela Udawatte, Dasun Shanaka, Sachith Pathirana, Vikum Sanjaya, Lahiru Gamage, Seekkuge Prasanna, Vishwa Fernando, Isuru Udana, Jeffrey Vandersay and Chathuranga de Silva.
Polarised public
31% in UK say BBC is biased to left-wing views
19% in UK say BBC is biased to right-wing views
19% in UK say BBC is not biased at all
Source: YouGov
Profile
Company: Justmop.com
Date started: December 2015
Founders: Kerem Kuyucu and Cagatay Ozcan
Sector: Technology and home services
Based: Jumeirah Lake Towers, Dubai
Size: 55 employees and 100,000 cleaning requests a month
Funding: The company’s investors include Collective Spark, Faith Capital Holding, Oak Capital, VentureFriends, and 500 Startups.
Wicked: For Good
Director: Jon M Chu
Starring: Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo, Jonathan Bailey, Jeff Goldblum, Michelle Yeoh, Ethan Slater
Rating: 4/5
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
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FIXTURES
Thu Mar 15 – West Indies v Afghanistan, UAE v Scotland
Fri Mar 16 – Ireland v Zimbabwe
Sun Mar 18 – Ireland v Scotland
Mon Mar 19 – West Indies v Zimbabwe
Tue Mar 20 – UAE v Afghanistan
Wed Mar 21 – West Indies v Scotland
Thu Mar 22 – UAE v Zimbabwe
Fri Mar 23 – Ireland v Afghanistan
The top two teams qualify for the World Cup
Classification matches
The top-placed side out of Papua New Guinea, Hong Kong or Nepal will be granted one-day international status. UAE and Scotland have already won ODI status, having qualified for the Super Six.
Thu Mar 15 – Netherlands v Hong Kong, PNG v Nepal
Sat Mar 17 – 7th-8th place playoff, 9th-10th place playoff
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Opening day UAE Premiership fixtures, Friday, September 22:
- Dubai Sports City Eagles v Dubai Exiles
- Dubai Hurricanes v Abu Dhabi Saracens
- Jebel Ali Dragons v Abu Dhabi Harlequins
