Failed asylum seeker ‘randomly’ stabbed dad-of-three to death in bank while he was FaceTiming friend

A ‘loving’ father’s final words were to ask his killer ‘why?’ after a failed asylum seeker plunged a knife through his chest as he queued in a Derby bank.

Haybe Cabdiraxmaan Nur drunkenly entered a Lloyds Bank, pulled a knife from his waistband and plunged it into the chest of Gurvinder Singh Johal, who was in the middle of video-calling a friend as he stood in a queue to withdraw money.

The 37-year-old Indian restaurant owner known as Danny fell, and the blade snapped, leaving it protruding from his body.

His murderer calmly walked out, into the Derbion shopping centre and then home.

The 47-year-old killer, of Western Road, Normanton, had entered the UK illegally months earlier ‘in a small boat’ and had been refused asylum by the Home Office.

Judge Shaun Smith KC 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.

‘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.’

Louis Mabley KC, prosecuting, said Mr Johal, who lived with his wife, children and extended family in West Bromwich, was standing in a queue when he was attacked by the defendant on the afternoon of May 6, this year.

He said his killer later admitted he’d drunk three bottles of vodka and 10 bottles of beer when he produced the blade from his waistband and stabbed the victim once to the chest.

The prosecutor said: ‘Danny walked in and joined the queue of customers. The defendant got up from a bench, 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 a witness saw a knife protruding from the middle of Danny’s chest and another witness heard Danny say ‘why?’

‘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.’

Mr Mably said Nur was arrested and taken into custody where his behaviour was described as ‘erratic’. A medical examination was carried out and he was deemed ‘to have capacity’.

He has no diagnosis of any mental health conditions.

At a hearing in August the defendant pleaded guilty to his murder.

He was known to the police in four different European countries where he lived, having fled his home country of Somalia in 2016 before arriving in the UK in September 2024.

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.

He said the defendant witnessed his wife being murdered in ‘an honour killing’ back home and he left, going first to Europe and then the UK.

He said: ‘He has consistently denied having any recollection of the killing.’

The judge awarded £750 High Sheriff’s Awards to a number of members of the public who attempted to help Mr Johal after he was stabbed.