Copyright manchestereveningnews
An asylum seeker who paid 400 euros to travel to the UK murdered a dad-of-three after stabbing him to death in an unprovoked attack inside a bank. Haybe Cabdiraxmaan Nur, who was an alcoholic and known to the police in multiple countries before coming to the UK, has now been jailed for life and must serve at least 25 years. Gurvinder Singh Johal was standing in a queue in Lloyds Bank in the city when he was attacked by Nur on the afternoon of May 6. Customers and staff inside the branch witnessed the horrific killing and Mr Johal , was declared dead at the scene, Derbyshire Live reports . Nur, 47, must serve 25 years before he is eligible to apply for parole - with the time he has already spent in custody counting towards his sentence. Sentencing him, Judge Smith said: "Armed with a knife in a busy city centre in the middle of the afternoon in broad daylight, having indicated you were going to kill someone, you randomly selected Danny Johal and plunged the knife in his chest. It was a very public killing." The court heard how Nur, of Western Road, Normanton, was 'remarkably calm' following the stabbing when he was found at his home intoxicated with a half-full 500ml bottle of vodka in his left-hand front trouser pocket, reports Derbyshire Live. It was also heard how the defendant was born in Somalia and paid £400 to be brought to the UK illegally. He was arrested on his arrival "in a small boat" in September, 2024, and the Home Office refused his application for asylum, which he appealed - which was the position at the time of the murder. Judge Smith said: "Danny was a man doing nothing more than going to the bank to get money to pay his staff at the Hen and Chickens indian restaurant. "A loving father, a cherished friend and a man you murdered in front of people going about their everyday business and who witnessed the horror. You randomly selected Mr Johal and plunged a knife into his chest, a man you had never met before. It was a brutal and callous act - a real life horror film for the family and friends of Mr Johal and for anyone who witnessed your horrific act." Louis Mably KC, prosecuting, said Mr Johal was a 37-year-old businessman who leaves children aged five, three and one and who lived with his family in West Bromwich. In a victim impact statement made by the family, they said: "We stand before you today broken and grieving and the future feels like a lifetime of grief. He was a rock, a shepherd, our angel on earth and his children say a monster took their daddy away. “A home once filled with laughter and his joyful presence is now in suffocated silence so loud it hurts. Every morning we wake up expecting to hear his footsteps but there is only silence. “The silence screams his absence and the future now feels like a sentence of grief. We are tormented by the what if’s. What if he had not gone to work that day? What if he had taken a different route? “Would he still be here, and would he have avoided crossing paths with the person who took him from us? “A person we see as nothing more than a coward and a demon. His wife has lost her soulmate, partner, protector now and is now left to raise their children alone her life shattered her heart hollow. Our family is broken . “To the one who did this, we pray God shows you the same mercy you showed our son. May you and your soul never rest in peace.” Mr Mably said the defendant claimed he had no memory of the killing in interview and "claimed he was not responsible for the killing as he had no memory of it." He said: "He said he'd drank three bottles of vodka and ten beers. He said he drinks whenever he has access, has a problem with alcohol and had sought help from his GP when he first arrived in Derby but 'didn’t get far'." Join the Manchester Evening News WhatsApp group HERE The court heard how there was no prior interaction between the killer and the victim before the time of the attack. Mr Mably said Mr Johal walked past the defendant, who was sitting on a bench with a half bottle of vodka, in St Peters Street and that there was "no interaction" between them. He said: "Danny walked in and joined the queue of customers. The defendant got up from walked diagonally across the square and into Lloyds Bank and it was captured on CCTV. "Danny was the last in the queue, the defendant approached him, produced the knife and without giving Danny any time at all stabbed him in the chest. "Danny was Facetiming a friend at the time and said 'what the ****' A witness saw a knife protruding from the middle of Danny's chest and another witness heard Danny say 'why?' or 'what the ****?'. "No-one saw the stabbing until after it happened. Immediately after the stabbing the defendant turned around and calmly walked out of the bank only 22 seconds after he first entered. He went into a shopping centre and then went home arriving shortly before 3pm." According to a witness, Nur said he was going to kill 500 people and then kill himself - and that Derbyshire Police was aware of this. Mr Mably said: "A witness said they went to his address and saw the defendant was drinking vodka. "Throughout the morning, the defendant was calling a charity called Migrant Help and substantive calls were made later that day and what the defendant said to the volunteer on the phone was that he was locked out of his room. "He was crying and he felt he was 'living his life like an animal' and did not feel supported. "He said no-one was helping him. As the call continued he became more erratic and at one stage he said he was going to end his own life by walking into traffic. "Then he was asked why and he then said he was 'going to kill 500 people and then kill himself'. He said he was 'going to get a knife and stab many people in front of him'. "He said he 'did not care that Allah was going to punish him for committing suicide'. He said the people he was going to kill were doctors, the police, the Home Office and that they 'better watch out' because he was coming for them." "He was told the emergency services were going to be called and at 1.30pm Migrant Help called EMAS on the referral that the defendant was going to kill himself and other people. EMAS referred the matter to Derbyshire Police." Nur was an asylum seeker who was born in Somalia and paid £400 to be brought to the UK illegally. Mr Mably said he was arrested on his arrival "in a small boat" in September, 2024, and the Home Office refused his application for asylum. He appealed, and that was the position at the time of the murder. The prosecutor said: "There was an incident where he had an argument in a bank and shouted '**** England' and called people 'white racists'. "He then head-butted a construction worker, who retaliated and punched him. No charges were brought. "Three weeks prior to the murder, he walked into an electrical repair shop in Derby and handed over his mobile phone, complaining he could not access Facebook. He picked up a brick and smashed a window." Mr Mably said ahead of arriving in the UK, Nur was "known to the police" in Italy, the Netherlands, Germany and Luxembourg, including being handed a suspended sentence for robbery and ABH in Italy, shoplifting in Holland and stealing alcohol from shops on eight occasions in Luxembourg. The prosecutor said the defendant moved to Home Office accommodation in Western Road, Normanton, on January 30, 2025, and that other residents had complained of noise. James Horne KC, mitigating, said: "I would like to begin by readily acknowledging Mr Johal's death was a tragedy and nothing I say or advance is meant to downplay or disrespect what happened. "The most useful document is a report by a consultant psychiatrist who assessed Mr Nur following his guilty plea." He said his client was born into a Somali tribe which "has a low social status" in the country and that he witnessed his wife being murdered in "an honour killing" back home and he left going first to Europe and then the UK in September, 2024. He said: "He has consistently denied having any recollection of the killing." Nur was arrested and taken into custody where his behaviour was described as "erratic" on the day of the killing. A medical examination was carried out and he was deemed "to have capacity". He has no diagnosis of any mental health conditions. The 47-year-old had entered a guilty plea in front of Judge Shaun Smith KC prior to today's sentencing.
