RIYADH: A British construction worker who fatally stabbed Saudi student Mohammed Al-Qasim in Cambridge last summer was sentenced on Thursday to life imprisonment for murder, with a minimum term of 22 and a half years before he can be considered for parole, according to Cambridge Crown Court.
Chas Corrigan, 22, was sentenced after the jurors found him guilty in March of murdering the 20-year-old Saudi citizen, who had traveled to Britain to study English.
According to Saudi news satellite TV channel Al-Ekhbariya, the judge cited the findings of the investigation, as well as Corrigan’s criminal record and drug use, in imposing the life sentence.
Corrigan was also sentenced to 18 months’ imprisonment for possession of a bladed article. The sentence will run concurrently with the life sentence and will not extend the minimum term.
During the trial in March, the court heard that Corrigan had been drinking alcohol and using cocaine before stabbing Al-Qasim in the neck on Aug. 1, 2025.
Corrigan denied murder but admitted possessing a knife. He told jurors that he had waved the weapon, intending to scare Al-Qasim rather than injure him.
He said he had been drinking in a nearby pub and had consumed around six pints of Guinness, one or two gin and tonics, several drinks containing vodka, and had also used cocaine twice.
Despite this, Corrigan said that he was not drunk and claimed he carried a kitchen knife for self-defense after having been attacked in the past.
During the trial, he said he did not realize Al-Qasim had been injured and could not remember the exact details of the encounter. He told jurors that Al-Qasim had “startled” him and that he thought the student was going to hurt him.
Prosecutors said that a silver kitchen knife with a 13-cm blade was later found hidden among plants in a nearby street.
Al-Qasim had traveled to Britain to attend a 10-week English-language program at EF International Language Campuses to improve his English skills. He also had ambitions to pursue a career in industrial engineering.
His death drew tributes from family, friends and Saudi officials, who described him as a kind and ambitious young man dedicated to his studies and community.
Corrigan’s father Peter, who is in his early 50s, had previously pleaded guilty to assisting an offender and was sentenced to two years in prison.
