Asylum Seeker Jailed for Life Over Derby Bank Murder

A drunk asylum seeker who stabbed a total stranger through the heart inside a Derby bank has been locked up for life after admitting the senseless killing.

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.

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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.

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