Thuasday 3O ct 2025 {HMC}An asylum seeker who “calmly” walked into a bank and stabbed a man inside to death without provocation or motive has been jailed for life.
Haybe Cabdiraxmaan Nur stabbed Gurvinder Johal, 37, through the heart in an attack caught on CCTV at a Lloyds Bank branch in St Peter’s Street, Derby, just after 14:30 BST on 6 May.
Mr Johal’s family said Nur – who Derby Crown Court heard arrived on small boat in the UK after spending a few years in Europe – was a “coward and demon” who had robbed his three young children of their innocence.
On Wednesday, Nur was jailed for at least 25 years.
The court heard after initially travelling to Libya from Somalia in 2016, the killer was sent 1,800 US dollars (£1,362) to board a boat to Europe.
Nur, who arrived in the UK in October 2024 after paying a smuggler €400 (£352), had previously spent time in Italy, France, Germany, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.
Louis Mably KC, for the prosecution, said Nur sold cigarettes illegally while living in camps in France and Italy, and had arranged the €400 trip to the UK himself.
Sentencing Nur, Judge Shaun Smith said: “You murdered [Mr Johal] in broad daylight in front of members of the public.
“What you did, armed with a knife, was randomly select Mr Johal and plunge it into his chest – a man you never knew. It was a brutal and callous act.
“This was a real-life horror film for everyone connected to Mr Johal and those who witnessed this.”
The 47-year-old had claimed asylum in October last year shortly after arriving in the UK, which was rejected by the Home Office in January 2025 because he had arrived “voluntarily”.
He later appealed against the decision, and it was under review when the killing took place.
Louis Mably KC, for the prosecution, read a victim impact statement written by Mr Johal’s sister on behalf of the family.
In it, she said: “To us and to God, he was simply a good man, our Gurvinder, our light.
“This didn’t just change our lives, they have been shattered… we are suffocated by a silence so loud it hurts.
“This is a life sentence of grief… [in Nur], we see nothing more than a coward and a demon.
“The person will never understand the pain and destruction they have caused – they are nothing.
“The light in our family has been extinguished… the deepest wound is the impact on the children, they had their innocence stolen.”
The statement continued and stated Mr Johal’s children have said “a monster took daddy away”.
Mr Johal’s family urged for Nur to serve his sentence in the UK, rather than being deported.
Nur had no previous convictions in the UK, but was arrested in Derby on 13 December 2024 following an argument with a man.
The court heard Nur “ran into traffic”, headbutted a man and called English people “white racists”.
The defendant is also recorded as having smashed a window in a phone shop in Derby in April.
Nur, who the court was told had consumed three bottles of vodka and 10 beers on the day of the killing, had been in contact with charity Migrant Help.
In a number of calls that started in the morning and into the early afternoon, Nur was aggressive and made threats to take his own life and to kill other people.
The court heard Nur “felt like he was living like an animal” and added he was not being supported and had mental health issues.
After one of the calls, the charity contacted East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS) with concerns over Nur’s mental state and fears he was going to harm himself and others.
EMAS contacted police and it was deemed that the ambulance service was the appropriate agency to deal with this.
‘Moment of confusion’
Detailing the killing, Mr Mably KC said: “Nur got up and walked into the bank. What happened inside was seen by a number of customers and bank staff and captured on CCTV.
“He approached him, produced a knife and without warning or provocation and with no time to react, he stabbed him forcefully in the chest.
“No-one saw this stabbing until after it happened and there was a moment of confusion as to what had happened.
“The defendant himself simply turned around and calmly walked out of the bank. The calmness of his exit was noted by others in the bank and that added to the confusion as to what had happened.”
Mr Johal collapsed on to the ground with the knife still in his chest. Bank staff called 999. Despite attempts to revive him, Mr Johal was pronounced dead at the scene at 15:16.
The court heard Nur was inside the bank for no more than 22 seconds.
When paramedics arrived following the call from Migrant Help, Nur told them he was frustrated and now he had sobered up, he had no intention of taking his own life or hurting people.
An ambulance arrived at Nur’s home address just before 15:00 – shortly after he arrived home after murdering Mr Johal.
Due to this, the force made a voluntary referral to the Independent Office for Police Conduct and an investigation is ongoing.
The court was told Nur was later tracked down and arrested a few hours later, after police found him asleep on his bedroom floor.
When he was taken into custody, the court heard Nur became abusive and, in Somali, said: “What can they take from me… what can you change about me… you cannot change anything about me… you can kill me as normal… I did this intentionally.”
The court also heard of Nur’s involvement with police forces across Europe.
In May 2023, he received a suspended sentence for robbery in Italy, and was arrested for the theft of bicycles in Germany a month later. Police in Berlin were called out to a refugee centre, where Nur had threatened to take his own life.
He then moved to the Netherlands, where it was reported there were three minor incidents of public disorder while drunk.
Nur also spent time in Luxembourg, committing eight offences of stealing alcohol. The court heard Nur was so drunk that on many occasions when he was arrested, he could not be questioned.
James Horne KC, mitigating, said Nur fled Somalia in 2016 after his wife was a victim of an honour killing, and was diagnosed with complex post-traumatic stress disorder.
“Despite his lack of memory, he sought to accept full responsibility,” he said.
Nur, previously of Western Road, Derby, pleaded guilty to one count of murder on 21 August.
Sam Shallow, of the Crown Prosecution Service, called the murder an “inexplicable crime”.
“Gurvinder Johal’s sudden death as he went about his everyday business left a family in mourning and a community in shock,” she said.
“Mr Johal was a complete stranger to the defendant and there was no reason for him to have been targeted in this way.”
Analysis
By Jeremy Ball, East Midlands social affairs correspondent
There are obvious questions about the asylum system generally. Who’s coming here? Where they are housed? How are they monitored?
This feeds into a febrile political debate. There will be concerns over whether it could be a lightning rod for community tensions too.
And some very specific questions, here, about what the authorities knew. Because Derbyshire Police say Nur had police records in four European Union countries, which they did not know until after the killing.
But the biggest question is over his repeated calls for help, in the hours beforehand. Questions for the helpline, the police and the ambulance service. Who knew what and when? Should they have acted more quickly?
Could a different response have prevented this awful crime?
Source Hiiraan Online
