A man has denied murdering a Saudi student who was stabbed to death while he was in Cambridge to learn English.
Mohammed Yousef Alqassem, 20, was on a 10-week placement at an English language school when he was killed on August 1. Appearing at Cambridge Crown court on Monday, Chas Corrigan, 21, pleaded not guilty to murder and will now face trial in February.
However, he admitted possession of a knife blade or sharp pointed article in a public place, and will be sentenced for that after the trial has concluded. Appearing alongside Mr Corrigan was Peter Corrigan, 50, who pleaded guilty to assisting an offender.
The defence barrister Shahnawaz Khan has said the accused was born and brought up in Cambridge and worked as a landscaper. At a previous hearing, prosecutor Gavin Burrell told Cambridge Crown Court that the victim collapsed after sustaining an 11.5cm wound to his neck, which pierced his jugular vein.
“The victim bled out and died of haemorrhaging at the scene. Junior doctors who were nearby tried to assist,” said Mr Burrell.
When Mr Alqassem’s family paid an emotional visit the place where he died, his cousin Abdulmalik Alqassem spoke to The National and paid tribute to his relative. “Mohammed was a very lovely person. He had a big smile and liked to make jokes.”
He said Mohammed's generosity was a mark of his personality, and that he had been keen to help out fellow students who came to the UK to study English.
His immediate family are from Makkah, and Abdulmalik said his cousin “served in the Holy Mosque for the whole of Ramadan, bringing iftar to the pilgrims”. Mr Alqassem was buried at the Al Shuhada Cemetery in Makkah.
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Common OCD symptoms and how they manifest
Checking: the obsession or thoughts focus on some harm coming from things not being as they should, which usually centre around the theme of safety. For example, the obsession is “the building will burn down”, therefore the compulsion is checking that the oven is switched off.
Contamination: the obsession is focused on the presence of germs, dirt or harmful bacteria and how this will impact the person and/or their loved ones. For example, the obsession is “the floor is dirty; me and my family will get sick and die”, the compulsion is repetitive cleaning.
Orderliness: the obsession is a fear of sitting with uncomfortable feelings, or to prevent harm coming to oneself or others. Objectively there appears to be no logical link between the obsession and compulsion. For example,” I won’t feel right if the jars aren’t lined up” or “harm will come to my family if I don’t line up all the jars”, so the compulsion is therefore lining up the jars.
Intrusive thoughts: the intrusive thought is usually highly distressing and repetitive. Common examples may include thoughts of perpetrating violence towards others, harming others, or questions over one’s character or deeds, usually in conflict with the person’s true values. An example would be: “I think I might hurt my family”, which in turn leads to the compulsion of avoiding social gatherings.
Hoarding: the intrusive thought is the overvaluing of objects or possessions, while the compulsion is stashing or hoarding these items and refusing to let them go. For example, “this newspaper may come in useful one day”, therefore, the compulsion is hoarding newspapers instead of discarding them the next day.
Source: Dr Robert Chandler, clinical psychologist at Lighthouse Arabia
Jawan
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UAE v Ireland
1st ODI, UAE win by 6 wickets
2nd ODI, January 12
3rd ODI, January 14
4th ODI, January 16
