A construction worker who stabbed a Saudi student to death in Cambridge has been sentenced to life in jail for the murder.
Mohammed Algasim, 20, was stabbed in the neck on August 1 last year outside his student accommodation near the city’s railway station by Chas Corrigan, 22. The pair had never met before.
Corrigan will serve a minimum of 22 years and six months in prison before he can apply for parole.
Corrigan, from Cambridge, claimed he had acted in self-defence but was convicted of murder by a jury at Cambridge Crown Court after two hours and nine minutes of deliberation in March.
The court heard the killer been drinking in a pub and taken cocaine on the night of the attack, which was described by prosecutors at his trial as “unprovoked and senseless”.
In a statement released through police, Mr Algasim’s family said: “This has been a very difficult journey for our family. Losing Mohammed has left a deep void in our lives.
“Whilst nothing can bring him back, today’s verdict recognises the seriousness and brutality of how his life was taken.”
The fatal moment when Mr Algasim was stabbed was shown to jurors during the trial.
Doctors who were passing by tried to save his life but he died of haemorrhaging at the scene.
Prosecutor Cheryl Williams said that despite Corrigan’s claims of self-defence “evidence clearly showed this was not the case”.
“Our case was built on a strong combination of CCTV footage, including images of the attack itself, eyewitness testimony and pathology evidence,” she said.
“This was a fatal and cruel act of violence, which has had a devastating impact on Mohammed Algasim’s family and friends. Nothing can undo their loss but I hope today’s sentence provides some measure of justice.”
Detective chief inspector Dale Mepstead, who led the Major Crime Unit investigation, said Corrigan “chose to arm himself with a knife and carry it in a public place, with devastating consequences”.
“Mohammed was a young man with his whole life ahead of him and his death has had a profound impact on all who knew him,” she said. “Our thoughts continue to be with his family and friends as they come to terms with this tragic loss.”
The killer’s father Peter Corrigan, 50, also of Cambridge, pleaded guilty to assisting an offender, after concealing high-visibility clothing that his son was wearing at the time of the attack. He was sentenced to two years in jail.
