Leyton man jailed for life for murdering fellow hostel resident over text message row

A Leyton man has been jailed for life for murdering fellow hostel resident following a row over text messages in August last year.

Mahi Noor, 25, of Lea Bridge Road in Leyton, has been sentenced for killing Abdi Khadar Adan, 32, after the former was found guilty following a trial at the Old Bailey last week, according to reports.

The court heard that Khadar Adan entered Noor's bedroom on August 22, 2021, only to emerge six-and-a-half minutes later bleeding profusely from a neck wound. Despite the best efforts of the Metropolitan Police, London Ambulance Service, and London Air Ambulance, he was tragically declared dead soon after arriving at the hospital, reported Essex Live.

According to reports, he had moved into the hostel only in July. Noor was already a resident there and had become close friends with a third resident Kieran McHugh, 31.

It was emerged that after his arrival, Khadar Adan was in frequent phone contact with Noor over cannabis. The jury heard that Noor was possibly supplying him with the drug.

However, on August 11, tension rose between the pair with Khadar texted Noor to be a man of his word and “bust” his head. The latter responded by threatening with violence.

The Evening Standard reported that their messages became too harsh on August 22, on the day of  Adan’s murder.

On that day, the victim went into Noor’s room in the afternoon and returned 30 minutes later. Soon, Adan came back to the room and phoned him without entering the room.

He tried to get Noor over phone in the next 30 minutes and also knocked on the door.Finally, when he responded, the duo continued to exchange heated texts with Noor told Adan to 'remember where he rests his head'.

When Adan continued to contact him over the phone and by knocking on the door, Noor hasn't responded.

Eventually, when Noor finally let Adan into his room he came back after being fatally stabbed. He later asked the hostel manager to call him an ambulance.

Following the incident, Noor and McHugh fled the scene and McHugh hid the knife in some shrub. Police later recovered the knife, which had Adan’s blood along with Noor’s DNA.

McHugh was arrested back at his hostel room the following day and Noor was arrested two days later. A quantity of cannabis was also found on him. Upon interrogation, he said the cannabis was for personal use, and answered no comment to all questions.

Noor was charged with murder on August 26, 2021. On January 26, he was jailed to a minimum of 20 years along with a consecutive three-year sentence for perverting the course of justice.

Earlier, McHugh pleaded guilty and was given a 20 month sentence. Though acquitted of murder and manslaughter, he will continue to be detained at a specialist facility under the Mental Health Act.

“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," Detective Chief Inspector Larry Smith, senior investigating officer, Met’s Specialist Crime Command, is reported to have said.