Murdered student was 'the most special person'

A friend of the student murdered in an unprovoked street attack has paid tribute to him, saying: "He'd do anything to help you and anything to make you smile."

Mohammed Algasim, 20, was stabbed to death in Cambridge by Chas Corrigan, who was found guilty of murder on Monday.

Algasim's friend, Sara, described him as "just the most special person I've ever met" and said the friendship group had been having a wonderful summer before his death in the early hours of 2 August.

She said that, after his murder, she travelled to Riyadh to meet with Algasim's family, adding: "He was always smiling, up for anything. He was fantastic, a beautiful boy."

The attack on Algasim was captured on CCTV, showing Corrigan confront and strike him with a knife at about 23:25 BST on 1 August.

Algasim, who was on a 10-week summer school course, had been sitting on a wall outside student accommodation in Mill Park. He ran off after the attack but collapsed on the pavement moments later.

Despite the help of three off-duty doctors, paramedics and members of the public, the languages student died within an hour.

Sara, who did not give her surname, said she became worried after hearing of a stabbing and was unable to contact Algasim.

"We were all actually meant to meet up because it was our friend's birthday," she told the BBC.

"Through the night we heard something. We [were] trying to get hold of him and were messaging him."

As Corrigan denied murdering Algasim, an explanation for the killing had never been offered.

However, prosecutor Nicholas Hearn told the trial he may have mistakenly thought he was "disrespected in another language" by the Saudi Arabian.

The jury at Cambridge Crown Court took less than two hours to find Corrigan guilty of murder.

Sara said she was informed of Algasim's death by a member of their friendship group.

"His face just said it all. He came in and I just went to hug him. I just knew," she recalled.

"It still shocks me now, it was awful."

Sara met Algasim through mutual friends and said she "fell in love" with his personality.

"I had a really great summer with him, [we] became a really special group of friends really quickly," she continued.

She said meeting his parents and his siblings in Riyadh was "overwhelming" but "beautiful".

"My heart broke for his mother," Sara said.

Construction worker Corrigan, of Holbrook Road, Cambridge, had been under the influence of alcohol and cocaine when he stabbed Algasim.

Police arrested him at 13:30 the next day, having been tipped off by a member of the public about his whereabouts.

They found a silver kitchen knife with a 13cm (5in) blade and a hi-vis hoodie worn by Corrigan in nearby Vinter Terrace about an hour later.

Det Con Sophia Deane, from Cambridgeshire Police, said Corrigan's choice to carry the knife that night had "tragic consequences".

She added: "It was a senseless and devastating attack on a young man with his whole life ahead of him.

"Our thoughts remain with his family, who have shown incredible strength throughout this investigation."

Corrigan will be sentenced on 30 March alongside his father, Peter Corrigan, who has admitted assisting an offender.

Algasim's family thanked the police for their "thorough investigation" and said it had been "a very difficult journey for our family".

"Losing Mohammed has left a deep void in our lives," his family added.

"Whilst nothing can bring him back, [the] verdict recognises the seriousness and brutality of how his life was taken."

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