Witness heard Hartlepool murder suspect shout "Allahu Akbar"

A housemate of a man stabbed in the chest has told how he was awoken by an ‘Islamic extremist’ shouting "Allahu Akbar" during the attack.

Ahmed Alid is accused of attempting to murder Javed Nouri after he forced his way into his bedroom and plunged a knife into him as he slept.

Mohammed Karimi told Teesside Crown Court how he saw ‘blood everywhere’ when he came downstairs in the shared house on Wharton Terrace in Hartlepool.

Ahmed Ali Alid (Image: PA)

Mr Karimi said he heard the murder suspect shout "Allahu Akbar" while he was upstairs.

The witness said there was some ill-feeling between the pair after Alid learned that Mr Nouri had converted to Christianity from the Islamic faith.

Javed Nouri's bedroom in the house on Wharton Terrace, Hartlepool (Image: PA)

Describing the scene he was confronted with, he said: “I was shocked and frightened and shouted to Javed to throw me the knife while he held Alid in a headlock.

“There was blood everywhere. I saw Javed’s leg bleeding so badly.”

Under cross-examination from defence barrister, John Elvidge KC, the witness said he had never seen Alid behave in a violent manner until the day of the stabbings.

Scene of crime officers working at the property on Wharton Terrace, Hartlepool (Image: North News)

Ariyan Karimi, who was staying with his friend Mohammed at the time, told the court that he hid in the bathroom after he realised what was happening.

Giving evidence, he said: “I didn’t close the door completely because I wanted to see what was going on.

“I saw Alid pick the knife up and went back inside the room – I thought he was going to the kitchen to get more weapons.”

Jurors heard how the defendant then targeted pensioner, Terence Carney, just minutes after he had attacked Mr Nouri and stabbed him to death.

Armed officers managed to track down the suspect as he wandered around Hartlepool town centre in the early hours of October 15 last year.

The 45-year-old asylum seeker had been reported to police and housing managers as his behaviour became increasingly concerning when he carried a knife in the shared property, jurors had heard.

See more court stories from The Northern Echo by clicking here

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• Jurors watch harrowing footage as 'Islamic extremist' stabs pensioner to death

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The Judge, Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb DBE, had told the jury that the accused accepts the facts of the case but they will be asked to consider Alid’s state of mind at the times of the alleged offences.

A post-mortem examination established that Mr Carney had been stabbed six times in the chest, abdomen and back.

Alid, of Wharton Terrace, Hartlepool, denies he murdered the pensioner. He also denies the attempted murder of his housemate, and two charges of assaulting an emergency worker.

The trial continues.