A British construction worker, Chas Corrigan, has been sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of Saudi studentMohammed Yousef Al-Qasim, who was fatally stabbed in Cambridge last summer.

He will serve a minimum of 22 years and six months before being eligible for parole, Cambridge Crown Court heard on June 4.

Chas Corrigan stabbed 20-year-old Mohammed in the neckwith a kitchen knife in Mill Park on the evening of 1 August. Mohammed managed to flee the scene but collapsed shortly afterwards as a bystander called for emergency services.

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Three off-duty doctors and paramedics arrived and found him bleeding heavily on the pavement. Despite their efforts to save him, he suffered a fatal neck injury and was pronounced dead at 12.19am.

The incident was captured on CCTV, which showed Corrigan fleeing the scene immediately after the attack.

Murder weapon

A public appeal was launched within hours, and Corrigan was later arrested following a tip-off from a member of the public.

Mohammed Al-Qasim was in Cambridge on a 10-week English-language placement at EF International Language Campuses to improve his language skills.

He had travelled to Britain for the programme and also hoped to pursue a future career in industrial engineering, according to Saudi media reports.

During the trial, Chas admitted he was the person seen in the CCTV footage and acknowledged carrying a knife but said he intended only to deter any attackers rather than use it.

After a two-week trial at Cambridge Crown Court, which concluded in March, the jury deliberated for less than two hours before finding him guilty of murder. He had previously pleaded guilty to possession of a knife in a public place.

At the same court, The Honourable Mr Justice Dias KC sentenced him to life imprisonment, with a minimum term of 22 years and six months.

Chas Corrigan

Father jailed for assisting son after killing

Chas Corrigan’s father, 51-year-old Peter Corrigan of Vinter Terrace, Cambridge, was also sentenced to two years in prison after pleading guilty on 8 September to assisting an offender, according to Cambridge Crown Court.

He was seen on CCTV at 9.04am on 2 August removing his son’s blood-stained jacket from bushes in Vinter Terrace and disposing of it in a wheelie bin.

He also assisted in helping his son evade arrest by allowing him to hide at a property in Holbrook.

Peter Corrigan

'Mohammed was a young man with his whole life ahead of him'

Detective Chief Inspector Dale Mepstead, who led the investigation from the Major Crime Unit, said the sentence reflected the seriousness of Chas’ actions and extended his condolences to Mohammed’s family and friends, adding that they continue to cope with the tragic loss.

“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," he said.

Family says loss left 'deep void' after verdict

Following the trial, the family said the past period had been extremely difficult, adding that losing Mohammed had left a deep void in their lives.

They said that while nothing could bring him back, the verdict acknowledged the seriousness and brutality of how he was killed.