A young student was killed with a stab to the neck as he sat ‘smiling and chatting’ with friends outside an accommodation block in Cambridge, a court heard today.
Mohammed Algasim, 20, is said to have been approached by Chas Corrigan, 22, who a jury was told had been drinking in a nearby pub and may have taken drugs.
Corrigan allegedly spoke to Mr Algasim, who was sitting on a low wall, before walking away.
Mr Algasim uttered something, the jury was told, although a witness could only hear the word ‘centre’ and Corrigan returned and started shouting ‘What did you say?’ in an ‘angry and aggressive way’.
The prosecution says Saudi Arabian national Mr Algasim then stood up and moments later the defendant produced a large knife from his pocket and stabbed him.
Corrigan then ran away, while his alleged victim collapsed in the street.
Describing the alleged attack in his opening statement today, prosecutor Nicholas Hearn said: ‘What none of that group know is that at the same time, a short distance away, a young man named Chas Corrigan is leaving the Early of Derby pub after an evening of drinking and using drugs.
‘He has a kitchen knife in his shorts pocket and, in a few moments’ time, after a short verbal altercation with Mr Algasim (a man he has never previously met) he will use that kitchen knife to stab Mr Algasim forcefully to the neck, fatally wounding him.’
Jurors at Cambridge Crown Court were told that much of the case would rely on CCTV, including footage of the alleged incident itself.
Mr Hearn added: ‘There will be footage that established the defendant’s movements before and after the incident.
‘But most significantly, the stabbing itself was captured by a high-quality CCTV camera positioned outside the student accommodation.
‘You will, I’m afraid, have to watch that footage many times during the course of this trial.’
The CCTV of the alleged attack played in court today showed Corrigan staring straight ahead and showing no emotion.
Towards the end of the footage, someone could be heard screaming as Mr Algasim ran away after being stabbed.
Mr Algasim was sitting outside the student accommodation near the city centre late on the night of August 1 last year, the jury was told.
Witnesses described how a man in a high-visibility jacket then approached Mr Algasim.
Describing the alleged attack, another student, Abdullah Saleh A Bin Shuail, said how the victim was sitting on the low wall outside the accommodation block.
The defendant approached and ‘went over to Mr Algasim and got within touching distance of him’.
Corrigan allegedly said something but he couldn’t hear what was said and ‘could not hear whether Mr Algasim said anything in reply’.
The defendant then walked towards the train station and Mr Algasim said ‘something to the defendant but [he] could only make out one word – ‘centre’.
Mr Heard told the court: ‘The defendant turned and started to come back towards them… his right hand was in his right pocket…
‘He was saying “What did you say? What did you say?” in a very angry and aggressive way.’
Mr Algasim is said to have stayed where he was and the defendant shouted: ‘I know what that means’ before he bent down and ‘put his face very close to Mr Algasim’s face’.
The prosecution say Mr Algasim then stood up and the defendant stepped back.
‘They seemed to separate, Mr Bin Shuail did not see what caused this to happen but assumed one of them must have pushed the other,’ Mr Heard said.
‘He then saw the defendant punch Mr Algasim heard to the left side of the neck. He then saw that the defendant was holding a large knife in his right hand.’
Corrigan allegedly shouted at Mr Bin Shuail ‘What you do, what you do’ before running away, as his victim collapsed further up the street after having run away.
The court heard that the defendant had earlier shown a knife to Stephen Papillon, who was also at the pub, although he thought it was for ‘self-defence’ as the defendant mentioned ‘he had been shot and stabbed before’.
Mr Papillon described how Corrigan, who was on his own but going up to people to speak to them, had been drinking but was ‘over-friendly’ rather than ‘badly behaved’.
A post-mortem examination found Mr Algasim’s death was caused by a single stab wound to the left of the neck that cut across the carotid artery and jugular vein, causing massive haemorrhaging.
The defendant was ‘quickly identified’ and police attended his address but his father, Peter Corrigan, told officers he didn’t know where he was, the court heard.
Media appeals followed and police received information about an address where Corrigan was staying, and he was arrested on suspicion of murder.
CCTV showed the defendant had discarded his jacked in a street near the scene of the stabbing, the court heard.
During a police interview, Corrigan provided a statement in which he denied murder.
He subsequently answered ‘no comment’ to all questions.
The jury was told he had admitted being in possession of a knife but continued to deny murder.
Mr Hearn said the evidence would show that the defendant ‘intended at least really serious harm’ and that, while the use of force in self-defence was allowed in law but ‘only force which is reasonably necessary’.
He added: ‘Mr Algasim posed no threat to anybody.
‘The defendant was the aggressor here. He approached Mr Algasim holding a knife in his right pocket, ready to be used.
‘He made a deliberate decision to use that knife to deliberately stab Mr Algasim.
‘This was an unprovoked and senseless act of violence. It was not an accident. It was not self-defence. It was murder.’
Jane Osborne, defending, said her client had ‘no intention of using that knife’ and had it only to ‘frighten off an attacker’.
‘He wanted to prevent himself from being the victim of violence again,’ she said.
Ms Osborne added that Corrigan thought Mr Algasim was acting ‘aggressively’ and he feared he would be attacked, which is why he produced the knife.
She said the defendant had only meant to ‘intimidate and scare, rather then hurt’, adding: ‘He accepts his actions resulted, regrettably, in the death of Mr Algasim.’
The trial continues.
