A Moroccan asylum seeker who murdered a pensioner as “revenge” for Palestine and attempted to murder a Christian housemate in his sleep has been sentenced to life in jail.

Ahmed Alid, 45, stabbed 70-year-old Terence Carney multiple times in Hartlepool in October, murdering him. He was also found guilty of the attempted murder of his housemate, Javed Nouri.

Alid was sentenced to life in jail with a minimum term of 45 years less time served at Teesside Crown Court on Friday.

Alid carried out the politically and religiously motivated attack eight days after Hamas’s massacres on October 7.

He told police the attacks were in protest against Israel and Zionism.

Judge Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb said he “did not have the courage to admit his guilt in court.”

Addressing Alid, the judge said, “On October 15 last year, you attacked and murdered Terence Carney in a terrorist act.

Judge Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb said Alid "did not have the courage to admit his guilt in court" and had no history of mental illness (photo: YouTube)

“You intended it as revenge for the actions of a foreign government, Israel, and to intimidate and influence the British government in its international relations. You hoped to frighten the people of Britain and to undermine the freedoms they enjoy.”

The judge said that Alid intended to kill both of his victims and succeeded in killing one.

“For each of these offences, you are sentenced to life imprisonment.”

She said Alid should expend to spend “most of the rest of his life in custody”.

Alid tried to murder his housemate, Javed Nouri, as he slept because he regarded him as an “apostate” for converting from Islam to Christianity.

After attacking Nouri, he ran into the street in the early hours of October 15 saying “Alluha Akbar”. He “chanced upon” 70-year-old Terence Carney, stabbing him six times.

Carney sustained six knife wounds and other injuries. He died of massive internal bleeding caused by three of the wounds that pierced his internal organs, including his heart and lung.

The judge said Alid’s offences “were of extreme gravity, even within the context of murder.”

While being interviewed by detectives, the judge said that Alid expressed a desire to “battle against non-Muslims” and told officers that “Jews had divided the Arabs, and the army of Allah would return to defend Al-Quds [Jerusalem].

Alid said he “acted for the people of Gaza” and “Gaza would become an Arab country”.

He said: “The Zionists must go because they are criminals and killing lots of people”

The court heard that Alid “if he had had more weapons and a machine gun, he would have killed thousands.”

He also told authorities that he was “ready for martyrdom.”

While detained, Alid attacked female detectives.

Serious mental illness, including psychosis, was excluded, but Alid was found to have an “adjustment disorder”. The judge said, “It does not reduce his culpability for murder or attempted murder at all because it is not sufficiently connected to such a serious level of violence.”

The judge said that his crimes were aimed at sowing division and were: “On par with when a police officer is murdered on duty”.

She described his crimes of a “magnitude [which] goes beyond the murder of an individual as it is an attempt to undermine the processes of a democratic country.”