LONDON — The Cambridge Crown Court in the United Kingdom on Thursday sentenced Chaz Corrigan, the main defendant in the murder of Saudi student Mohammed Al-Qassim, to life imprisonment.
The judge ordered that Corrigan serve a minimum term of 22 years and six months before being eligible for parole, citing the gravity of the crime, the defendant’s prior criminal record, and his use of drugs and alcohol at the time of the “unprovoked and senseless murder.”
Al-Qassim was fatally stabbed in the neck outside student accommodation in Cambridge in August 2025. Prosecutors stated that construction worker Chaz Corrigan, of Holbrook Road, Cambridge, attacked Al-Qassim with a kitchen knife following “an evening of drinking and drug use.”
Corrigan’s father, Peter Corrigan, 50, was also sentenced to two years in prison after pleading guilty to assisting an offender. He had concealed the high-visibility clothing his son was wearing during the attack. Cambridgeshire Police reported that Peter Corrigan was captured on CCTV on 2 August removing the blood-stained jacket from bushes in Vinter Terrace and disposing of it in a wheelie bin. The police added that he also aided his son in evading arrest by helping him hide at the Holbrook property.
Earlier, the court had deferred sentencing until Thursday to allow both the defense and prosecution to present final arguments. The defense had sought a reduced sentence for Corrigan. During the final hearing, the defense attorney advanced several legal arguments and case-specific circumstances in an attempt to secure a lighter sentence. However, the court upheld the conviction and imposed the statutory maximum penalty. Statements from Al-Qassim’s father, Yousef Al-Qassim, and sister, Shatha Al-Qassim, were also heard during the session.
The life sentence concludes months of investigations and judicial proceedings surrounding Al-Qassim’s murder, a case that has drawn significant attention both in the United Kingdom and Saudi Arabia. In March, a Crown Court jury convicted Chaz Corrigan of premeditated murder following two weeks of continuous deliberations examining the prosecution’s evidence.
During the trial, the jury rejected Corrigan’s claims of self-defense. Evidence showed that Al-Qassim, a student at a language school, had been sitting with friends near Cambridge rail station when Corrigan approached. Corrigan admitted carrying a kitchen knife for protection, claiming he had been attacked previously. He stated that he did not know Al-Qassim’s group but thought he had approached to ask for a lighter.
Corrigan testified that he turned back to the group after hearing shouting, believing he had been addressed, and that Al-Qassim then rose before the stabbing occurred. CCTV footage presented at trial captured Corrigan, wearing a high-visibility top, approaching Al-Qassim’s group. While Corrigan denied committing murder, he admitted possessing a bladed weapon, claiming he only intended to scare, not harm. He told jurors that he had been walking toward the station after drinking at the Earl of Derby pub, consuming approximately six pints of Guinness, one or two gin and tonics, several vodka-based drinks, and using cocaine.
Prosecution evidence included CCTV footage of the stabbing and Corrigan’s flight from the scene. The 20-year-old Al-Qassim, who hailed from Makkah, was stabbed to death on 1 August 2025 while on a 10-week study assignment in Cambridge. He died instantly from a single neck wound measuring 11.5 centimeters deep.
Source: Saudi Gazette