Chance encounter that ended in a student being murdered

It was a warm summer's evening in Cambridge when a chance encounter with a stranger ended Mohammed Algasim's life.

The 20-year-old, who travelled from Saudi Arabia to study in the UK, was stabbed in the neck moments after being approached by a man on 1 August.

CCTV footage showed him running for his life, but within an hour, the languages student was dead - the unprovoked knife wound proving fatal.

It was an attack caught on camera that led detectives to one man: Chas Corrigan.

The construction worker, 22, was arrested at 13:30 BST the next day and charged with murder.

He has now been found guilty of that offence at Cambridge Crown Court and faces a life sentence behind bars.

Corrigan, of Holbrook Road in the city, was described in court by his friend as a "good boy", someone who was more "like a baby" than aggressive.

Yet something that night drove him to murder a total stranger.

Mohammed Algasim was on a 10-week summer school course at the EF International Language Campuses in the city.

The atmosphere where he was murdered at Mill Park, close to a main railway station, was an entirely relaxed one shortly before 23:25.

Algasim was sitting on a wall outside student accommodation, with one leg crossed and a bottle of water by his side, while wearing a hoodie and a baseball cap.

"Mr Algasim posed no threat to anybody," prosecutor Nicholas Hearn told the jury.

Then he was approached by Corrigan, wearing a hi-vis hoodie.

Their exchange lasted 13 seconds and seemed amicable before Corrigan continued on his way, but something made the killer turn back.

The pair can be heard on CCTV saying "huh" to each other, before Corrigan stoops and gets into Algasim's face.

Abdullah Saleh A Bin Shuail, who was with Algasim, told the trial Corrigan approached the victim with his hand in his pocket and was "wound up" by something.

"He said, 'What did you say? What did you say?'," Bin Shuail recalled. "He was talking loudly and in a threatening way."

Bin Shuail said Algasim stood up to face Corrigan, but they quickly separated, with Algasim fleeing on foot.

He did not get very far: Algasim had suffered an 11.5cm-deep (4.5in) wound to his neck, cutting a vital artery.

Despite the help of off-duty doctors, members of the public and paramedics, he died 54 minutes after meeting Corrigan at 00:19 on 2 August.

During their inquiries, police found a hi-vis jumper in a bin on nearby Vinter Terrace, where Corrigan's father lived.

They also discovered a silver kitchen knife with a 13cm (5in) blade near a bush.

Corrigan, who had no previous convictions, was charged with murder and possession of a knife in a public place, and detectives began to piece together his movements the night before.

It emerged he went to the Earl of Derby pub twice as part of what prosecutors called "an evening of drinking and using drugs".

In between those pub trips, friend Simona Miksykte let Corrigan into her flat. She quickly became alarmed about his behaviour.

She told the jury Corrigan was very different to the man she usually thought of as "like a baby" that night.

"He was, like, touchy and pushy," Miksykte said.

"Normally, he is not like that. He is not, like, aggressive. He is a good boy. But that night - I don't know.

"When I was looking at him, he was, like, spaced out."

She said Corrigan had been "grabby" and "confrontational" before he left, returning to the pub.

When he was at the pub, in Hills Road, Corrigan told a man he was Irish and a member of the Rathmore Club - an Irish members' club in Cambridge.

Stephen Papillon, who was in the pub at the time, said he noticed Corrigan had a knife on him.

"I got the impression that he was using that as a form of protection," he told the trial, adding that Corrigan claimed to have been shot and stabbed before.

Blood and urine samples taken from the killer later indicated he had been drinking, and had used cocaine and cannabis.

Corrigan was also described to police as having been "behaving crazily", prosecutor Hearn said.

Giving evidence, he told the jury he had drunk about six pints of Guinness, one or two gin and tonics and several drinks containing vodka.

He also admitted to having twice taken cocaine that night - but insisted he was "merry", not drunk.

Corrigan told the jury he never intended to hurt Algasim with the knife, claiming he was waving it for intimidation and did not know it had struck him.

But they rejected his defence, unanimously finding him guilty of murder after about two hours of deliberations.

Corrigan's continued denial means no explanation has ever been given for why he stabbed Algasim.

Algasim was described by his family as "a young man brimming with enthusiasm... chivalry and courage".

"Over time, he became the family's charisma, leaving behind an unforgettable legacy in every gathering," they added.

Corrigan's father Peter, who is in his early 50s, has admitted assisting an offender in connection with Algasim's murder.

The father and son will be sentenced at a later date.

Follow Cambridgeshire news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.