Man guilty of murdering Saudi Arabian student

A man has been found guilty of murdering a Saudi Arabian student who was studying at a language summer school in Cambridge.

Mohammed Algasim, 20, was stabbed in the neck while sitting with friends outside student accommodation near the city's main railway station, shortly before 23:30 BST on 1 August.

Chas Corrigan, 22, of Holbrook Road, Cambridge, was found guilty of murder after a trial at Cambridge Crown Court.

Corrigan had denied murder but admitted possessing a bladed article.

Jurors returned with their verdict about two hours after retiring.

Judge Mr Justice Dias adjourned sentencing to a date to be fixed.

Corrigan showed no emotion as the guilty verdict was returned.

Prosecutors said Corrigan attacked Algasim with a kitchen knife after "an evening of drinking and using drugs".

Corrigan had told the trial that he waved the knife to scare not injure, and added: "I didn't realise he was injured at all."

The attack was caught on CCTV.

Jurors saw footage showing Corrigan, who was wearing a high-vis top, approach Algasim's group.

Prosecutors said Corrigan and Algasim were strangers.

Corrigan was seen talking to Algasim, who was sitting on a low wall, before walking away. He then returned and became involved in a confrontation.

He told jurors that he was walking towards the station at the time, after drinking in the Earl of Derby pub.

Corrigan said he had drunk about six pints of Guinness, one or two gin and tonics, and several drinks containing vodka.

He said he had also twice taken cocaine.

Corrigan told jurors he was "merry" but "not drunk".

Corrigan, a construction worker, said he was carrying a kitchen knife for protection because he had been attacked in the past.

He said he did not know anyone in the group but thought he had approached to ask for a lighter.

"I cannot remember what was said," he told jurors. "I said 'all right, no worries, see you later brother'."

He said he turned around and walked back to the group because he heard "shouting" and thought he was being "asked something".

Corrigan said Algasim then got to his feet before the stabbing occurred.

"He just startled me," Corrigan told the trial.

"I thought he was going to hurt me.

"I stepped back. I pulled out the knife to intimidate him and scare him away from me."

CCTV then showed Algasim running before collapsing.

"I thought I had just scared him off," said Corrigan.

"I ran in the other direction."

Prosecution barrister Ruby Shrimpton said blood and urine samples from Corrigan indicated he had been drinking, and had used cocaine and cannabis.

But toxicologists could not say how much he had taken and drunk, or what the effects were at the time he met Algasim, she explained.

Pathologist Virginia Fitzpatrick-Swallow told the trial that Algasim suffered an 11.5cm-deep (4.5in) wound to his neck and a vital artery was cut.

Shrimpton told jurors that Algasim was dead within an hour of being stabbed.

Prosecutors said police found a high-vis hooded sweatshirt in a bin in close-by Vinter Terrace.

They said the weapon used, a silver kitchen knife with a 13cm-long (5in) blade, was found nearby.