Khaberni - Video recordings documenting the moments before the stabbing of the Saudi Mohammed Al-Qasim, and moments of executing it, then the escape of the accused, were shown in front of the jury at the British Crown Court in Cambridge.
In detail, the prosecution displayed surveillance footage that tracked the accused before, during, and after the incident, stating that the clips showed no prior hostile friction between the parties.
The footage also revealed the accused inside a bar in an abnormal state, under the influence of intoxicants and drugs, carrying a knife in his pocket.
The filmed scenes later showed the accused fleeing through a pedestrian area after the stabbing, in a scene described by the prosecution as shocking and reflecting the behavior of the assailant, not a defender.
The prosecution stated that these were decisive pieces of evidence that conclusively refuted claims of self-defense, along with the testimony of his friend Abdullah Saleh Bin Sha'il, who recounted the horror saying: "I thought I was going to be the next victim."
The trial revealed a precise timeline of the movements of the accused and the victim, showing according to the prosecution, the absence of any fight or threat that justified using the weapon, while the accused admitted to killing the 20-year-old student but denied the charge of premeditated murder claiming he was defending himself.
At the opening of the case, the attorney general emphasized that the victim posed no threat to anyone, adding that the accused was the aggressor and what happened was an unjustifiable, meaningless act of violence and was not an accident nor self-defense, but was intentional murder.
During the trial sessions, the jury heard testimonies indicating that the accused spent part of the evening with a girlfriend who said he might have taken drugs, noting that his condition seemed different from his usual drunkenness and that he had tried to harass her and another neighbor.
Before the fatal encounter, the accused had visited a pub and told one of its patrons that he was carrying a knife, justifying this as self-defense after he mentioned having been previously shot and stabbed.
Testimony of the victim's friend
In court, Abdullah Saleh Bin Sha'il, who was standing outside a luxury housing building in Cambridge on the night of August 1, 2025, recounted the moments before the fatal stabbing and said he had taken out an entry card from his pocket to open the university residence door, thinking he would be the next target.
He explained that Al-Qasim was sitting quietly on a low wall near the entrance, smiling and talking with his colleagues, before the accused approached him wearing a reflective yellow jacket and a dirty pair of shorts, swaying from side to side and not walking normally.
A brief and quiet conversation took place between them before the accused moved away then returned agitated asking, “What did you say?”.
Al-Qasim remained calm while the accused approached his face, bent to his level, and screamed.
Bin Sha'il stated that the victim stood up and faced the accused, before they separated without scuffling, adding, "Suddenly, he pulled out a knife from his pocket and stabbed Mohammed... At first, I thought it was a punch."
He mentioned that the strike was strong on the left side of the neck until the victim’s hat flew off from the severity of the stab.
He continued saying, "Mohammed put his hand on his neck and moved away, then I saw the knife and blood on its blade."
He affirmed that the accused looked at him saying, “What are you going to do?”, perceiving it as a direct threat.
Seconds later, Al-Qasim collapsed in the street, impacted by the injury, while the accused left the scene holding a cigarette in one hand.
The autopsy report revealed that the death resulted from a single stab wound on the left side of the neck, which severed the carotid artery and jugular vein, causing severe bleeding that led to the student’s death within a short time.
