Mahi Noor
(Picture: Met Police)A man who stabbed a fellow hostel resident to death in east London after an argument over text message has been jailed for life.
Mahi Noor, 25, of Lea Bridge Road in Leyton, was found guilty at the Old Bailey on Tuesday following a trial, of the murder of 32-year-old Abdi Khadar Adan.
The court heard how on August 22, 2021, Mr Adan went into Noor’s bedroom, only to emerge six-and-a-half minutes later bleeding profusely having been stabbed through the neck.
Police, paramedics, and an air ambulance were all scrambled to the scene and desperately tried to help Mr Adan.
He was rushed to hospital but he was tragically pronounced dead shortly after arrival.
The jury heard that Mr Adan had moved into the hostel less than a month before his murder, on July 24, 2021.
Noor already lived there and had become close friends with a third resident, 31-year-old Kieran McHugh.
By August 1, just over a week after his arrival, Mr Adan was in regular phone contact with Noor, often messaging about cannabis. It was suggested that Noor was possibly supplying him with the drug.
On August 11, tension rose between the pair with Mr Adan texting Noor telling him to be a man of his word and “bust” his head. The men continued arguing, and it was clear Noor had previously threatened Mr Adan with violence.
The pair later continued to message without argument – mainly about cannabis. But the messages turned confrontational once again on the day of Mr Adan’s murder.
Shortly before 1.50pm on August 22, 2021, Mr Adan went into Noor’s room, leaving nearly 30 minutes later. Three minutes later, Mr Adan returned to Noor’s room but did not enter. He phoned him but got no answer.
Over the next 25 minutes, Mr Adan continued to try and get hold of Noor, either by knocking on his door, calling, or looking up at his room from the courtyard. Noor replied at around 2.30pm asking “what’s going on”.
The pair continued to exchange texts, with the messages getting increasingly heated with Noor telling Mr Adan to “remember where he rests his head”.
Mr Adan continued to try and contact Noor over the phone and by knocking on his door, but Noor did not answer.
Shortly before 4.10pm, Mr Adan went into the courtyard and shouted up to Noor’s room: “Why tell me to come up if you’re not going to open the door?”
At 4.21pm, Noor finally let Mr Adan into his room – which is when he was fatally stabbed.
Mr Adan left the room at 4.28pm bleeding heavily, and made it to the hostel reception where he asked the manager to call him an ambulance.
At 4.30pm, Noor and McHugh fled the scene and ran to nearby Manor Road, where McHugh hid the knife in some shrubs while Noor kept watch.
Police later recovered the knife, which had Mr Adan’s blood on it along with Noor’s DNA.
The defendants walked away and called for a taxi to take them to Victoria Railway Station, with Noor calling 90 seconds later to chase the booking, clearly anxious to get away from the scene.
McHugh was arrested back at his hostel room the following day, on August 23, 2021.
Noor was arrested in north London two days later, on August 25, giving a false name to police. A quantity of cannabis was found on him.
Whilst waiting to be booked into custody, Noor said to officers: “Congratulations, I’ve made myself famous.”
He later gave a prepared statement saying the cannabis found on him was for personal use, and answered no comment to all questions asked by police. He was charged with murder on August 26, 2021.
On Thursday, he was sentenced at the Old Bailey to a minimum of 20 years’ imprisonment. He also received a consecutive three-year sentence for perverting the course of justice.
McHugh, also of Lea Bridge Road in Leyton, pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to perverting the course of justice and was given a 20 month sentence.
He was acquitted of murder and manslaughter. McHugh has been and will continue to be detained at a specialist facility under the Mental Health Act.
Detective Chief Inspector Larry Smith, the senior investigating officer from the Met’s Specialist Crime Command, said: “It is extremely sad that Abdi lost his life in a horrific act of violence all over some heated text messages.
“Violence is never the answer, and we will robustly target and bring to justice anyone who thinks it is.”
