🔴 Asylum Seeker Jailed for Life Over Derby Bank Murder

An asylum seeker has been jailed for life after stabbing a man to death inside a Derby bank in an unprovoked attack.

Haybe Cabdiraxmaan Nur, 47, walked into a Lloyds Bank branch in St Peter’s Street just after 14:30 BST on 6 May and fatally stabbed 37-year-old Gurvinder Johal through the chest in an incident captured on CCTV.

Nur, who arrived in the UK in October 2024 after travelling through Italy, France, Germany, Luxembourg and the Netherlands, had no prior convictions in the UK but was previously known to European authorities for multiple offences including robbery, theft and public disorder while intoxicated.

Derby Crown Court heard that Nur’s asylum application had been rejected by the Home Office in January 2025, with an appeal pending, and that he had been in contact with a migrant support charity on the day of the killing, making multiple aggressive and threatening calls indicating both suicidal intent and threats to harm others.

Sentencing Nur to a minimum of 25 years, Judge Shaun Smith described the attack as “brutal and callous”, noting the random selection of the victim and the premeditated violence of plunging a knife into a stranger’s chest in broad daylight.

Prosecutor Louis Mably KC read a victim impact statement on behalf of Mr Johal’s family, detailing the lasting consequences of the attack on his children, describing Nur as a “coward and demon” responsible for irreparable harm to those affected.

CCTV footage showed Nur entering the bank, approaching Mr Johal, producing a knife and stabbing him forcefully in the chest, before calmly turning and leaving.

The entire encounter inside the bank lasted no more than 22 seconds. Emergency services were called immediately, but despite attempts to resuscitate him, Mr Johal was pronounced dead at 15:16 BST.

Nur returned home shortly after the attack, where paramedics attended following his calls to the migrant helpline. He reportedly expressed frustration and claimed no intent to harm or take his own life once sober.

Arrested hours later while asleep on his bedroom floor, Nur became verbally abusive in custody, stating in Somali that his actions were intentional and that authorities could not change him.

His prior history across Europe included a suspended sentence for robbery in Italy, bicycle theft in Germany, incidents of public disorder while intoxicated in the Netherlands, and multiple theft offences in Luxembourg, often rendering him incapable of meaningful questioning due to high levels of alcohol consumption.

Defence counsel James Horne KC highlighted Nur’s history of trauma, including fleeing Somalia after his wife was murdered in an honour killing and a diagnosis of complex post-traumatic stress disorder, while noting Nur’s guilty plea to one count of murder on 21 August.

Crown Prosecutor Sam Shallow described the killing as “inexplicable”, emphasising that Mr Johal was a complete stranger to Nur and had no connection to provoke the attack.

The court record details Nur’s behaviour before the killing, including a December 2024 incident in Derby where he ran into traffic, headbutted a man, made racially charged remarks and exhibited signs of acute distress, drinking heavily and making repeated threats to himself and others.

Nur’s sentencing represents the culmination of a rapid investigation, with authorities tracking his movements and prior offences, and assessing both his European criminal record and UK behavioural incidents to inform the life sentence handed down