32 years for Mohamed Nur, the killer who murdered for fun

A Somalian killer refused to come to court as he was jailed for at least 32 years for knifing a woman to death two days after slashing three other strangers’ faces.

Mohamed Nur, 35, grabbed 31-year-old Johanita Dogbey and stabbed her three times in the neck in a random attack near Brixton’s O2 academy in south London on 1 May last year.

He refused to attend his sentencing today saying there was ‘no point’ coming and the judge said rare proceedings would begin to punish him for the ‘clear contempt’ shown.

Ms Dogbey was killed while on the phone to her grandmother on the way home from buying a birthday gift for her mother at about 4.30pm on the bank holiday Monday.

Nur had been waiting on the streets of Brixton before he saw Ms Dogbey and followed her before launching his ‘violent and unprovoked’ attack while she shouted for him to leave her alone.

She was able to get to her feet briefly before collapsing as members of the public rushed to her aid but she later died at the scene.

Nur replied ‘What, who’s she?’ when he was later arrested for murder.

He had attacked Rebecca Wilkes, Tomasz Kmiecik and Katie Matthews in a five minute rampage using a make-shift weapon from broken glass and rubber bands, between 11.25pm and 11.30pm, on 29 April 2023 in the same area.

The night after killing Ms Dogbey he went out with another weapon to the same area again and was arrested by police.

Nur admitted murder and denied three counts of unlawful wounding but was convicted by an Old Bailey jury last week.

The killer refused to come to court from prison for a single day of his two week trial saying there was ‘no point’ coming when he had already admitted murder.

He again sent a refusal notice to the judge today saying there was ‘no point’ attending the sentencing hearing.

Addressing the empty dock, Judge Angela Rafferty, KC, jailed Nur for life with a minimum term of 32 years.

She said: ‘All of these victims were complete strangers to you.

‘Someone who saw Johnita said she sounded happy. You would have seen she was talking and had her hands occupied.

‘It is a sickening piece of footage to view but it must have been even more horrific for those present to witness.

‘The savagery of your attack is hard to say in words.

‘She was in the prime of her life and now with no warning whatsoever before she was killing in this vicious and horrifying attack.

‘You have never offered any explanation or remorse for this senseless killing.

‘There was a deliberate decision to go out and target the innocent and the defenceless.

‘You are a very dangerous man and the risk you pose is incalculable.

‘It is my firm view that had you not been arrested on 2 May you would have been likely to attack again.’

She directed that a prison officer read her remarks to Nur in HMP Belmarsh later today.

The judge added: ‘This defendant has not attended any day of his trial and has sent notices to say he sees no point and has not come today for his public sentencing hearing and I am taking this very seriously.

‘He has in effect committed a number of contempt of court offences and so he could face consecutive sentences for a number of years and I am minded to mark it.

‘We cannot have defendants in a case like this just not turning up to court without any penalty whatsoever.’

Nur had also refused to leave his cell to be interviewed by police and had to be questioned though the opening in the cell door to which he did not respond.

Ms Dogbey’s mother, father, brother, sister and uncle attended court today.

Her uncle remained in court while footage of Ms Dogbey’s murder was played while the rest of the family exited the courtroom.

Her mother left the court in tears after the prosecutor described the attack on her daughter.

Ms Dogbey’s younger sister Laura Dogbey sobbed as she read a victim impact statement to court with her brother stood at her side.

She told the court she was an experienced writer having had work published in a book when she was 15 but had struggled to put into words her feelings after her sister’s death.

She said: ‘What words can I really use to describe how broken I am? I ask if these words even exist and answer is no.

‘To say when my sister was murdered was the worst day of my life would be too simple. To say that it broke me is an understatement.

‘There were so many pieces of me that left when the police confirmed to my father the news that his pure, innocent, loving, selfless daughter had been murdered.

‘I was the youngest child and had an older sister and older brother sheltering me from the brutality of the world.

‘My sister was my protector and it hurts me to know no one was able to protect her from the actions of this man who snuck up behind her and took her life.

‘You often hear of cases like this but never in a million years think it would hit this close to home.

‘How can a person be so selfish killing someone like that?

‘My sister is dead – she didn’t get to plead for her or tell her family she loved them.’

She said she had delayed her A Level exams after her sister was killed and was struggling to focus on them this year.

The judge and barristers took off their wigs as Laura read her statement.

In a victim impact statement read to the court by the prosecutor Ms Dogbey’s father Yao Dogbey said his daughter was ‘loving, kind and humble’ as the oldest of three siblings.

He said: ’She was much loved not only by her family but also her many friends and people she helped.

‘She created a charity to support people suffering from sickle cell. Having had sickle cell herself she was devoted to this cause and made a great change to many people’s lives.

‘She loved making jokes and always had a smile on her face. She was always putting others first and helping others.

‘We never expected her to go like that and struggle to understand how this could have happened at all.

‘Johnita passing so violently has left a big hole in our lives and a massive hole in our hearts.’

Nur left his home on 1 May wearing dark clothing concealing a weapon consisting of two triangular-shaped blades wrapped in fabric tied together with elastic bands.

He took a tube to Vauxhall and was seen walking around alone for 25 minutes, apart from briefly interacting with a woman.

Prosecutor Julian Evans, KC, said: ‘At about this time, Johanita Dogbey was walking towards Stockwell Park Walk. Johantia was on her own. She was on her way home.

‘Earlier that day, Johanita had been shopping in Oxford Street and she had gone there to buy a birthday present for her mother.

‘Johanita walked past Mohamed Nur. She was holding a mobile phone in her left hand, and her bag of shopping in her right hand. Johanita was on the phone talking to her grandmother.

‘As Johanita walked by, so Mohamed Nur saw her. There is nothing to suggest that Johanita was in any way known to him, or that he had ever seen her before. She was a complete stranger to him.

‘Shortly after Johanita walked past, Mr Nur began to follow her and at some point removed his weapon.

‘With Johanita walking ahead of him, Mr Nur then started to quicken his pace, he started to close the distance between him and Johanita and he approached Johanita from behind.

‘When he got close to Johanita he grabbed her from behind. It is clear from the CCTV footage she had no idea that Mohamed Nur was close behind her, or that he was about to attack her.

‘Mohamed Nur attacked Johanita with his weapon. The attack was sudden, it was violent, and it was without warning. It was completely unprovoked.

‘Mohamed Nur repeatedly stabbed Johanita in the area of her neck. He did so until she fell to the ground. And after Johanita fell, Mohamed Nur ran away into the housing estate.

‘She was defenceless and blameless.’

A police community support officer who witnessed the stabbing heard Ms Dogbey shout ‘leave me, leave me’ as she was attacked.

Nur ran away and discarded the weapon in a bush where it was later found by police.

Members of the public called 999 and paramedics attended but Ms Dogbey was pronounced dead at the scene at 4.42pm.

Her grandmother heard a commotion down the phone before the call ended abruptly.

Family members rushed to the scene to be told she had passed away.

The three assaults had happened in the same area two days before.

Mr Evans earlier said: ’In each case, the man used his weapon to cut the face of each of the three victims. All three suffered a wound to the side of their face.

‘The first of the three incidents happened at about 11.25pm.

‘In this incident, the man approached Rebecca Wilkes from behind. He grabbed her by the face and he cut her on the right side of her cheek.

‘She suffered a wound to her face that was about 9cm long.

‘The second incident happened very soon afterwards about a minute or so later at about 11.26pm.

‘In this second incident, the man walked towards Tomasz Kmiecik, and as the two of them passed one another, the man cut him on the right side of his cheek. He suffered a 15cm long wound to the face.

‘The third incident happened about three minutes later at about 11.29pm.

‘In this incident, the man walked towards Katie Matthews. And as they passed one another, the man cut her on the right side of her cheek. She suffered a 6cm long wound to the face.’

Nur was heard saying ‘you f—-ng c–t’ as he walked away from Ms Matthews.

In a victim impact statement Ms Wilkes said she had been scarred for life and in constantly reminded of the incident when people stare at her or ask about the scar.

Events photographer Mr Kmiecik said he and his wife now struggle with anxiety when walking about at night.

Ms Matthews, a mother to young children, said she had become irrationally fearful of strangers.

After killing Ms Dogbey on 1 May Nur returned home but left his house again that night with another makeshift weapon.

He was stopped by police at 12.45am on 2 May near to the McDonald’s where he had started to follow Rebecca Wilkes.

Police had identified him as wearing similar clothing to Ms Dogbey’s attacker.

Asked what he had been doing that day Nur replied: ‘Nothing I’m just getting something to eat bruv.’

He then said: ‘just been f—-ing smoking crack and s–t bruv.’

Officers found he was wearing two pairs of trousers with a weapon concealed in the right pocket of the inner pair.

He was later arrested on suspicion of the murder of Johanita Dogbey at the police station and replied ‘What, who’s she?’.

Shards of broken mirror were found in Nur’s room in the Lambeth Assessment Centre- a homeless shelter in Vauxhall.

His room has last been checked by staff on 25 April 2023.

Nur’s barrister Jeremy Wainwright, KC, said he had been given no explanation to offer form Nur about the murder or the other attacks.

Nur was born in Somalia and moved to south London in 1993.

He went to college to study IT but dropped out when he began smoking cannabis.

From December 2022 he was living on the streets addicted to drugs.

He has previous convictions for possession of a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence and possession of a knife.

When arrested on suspicion of dealing drugs and found with a knife he told the police: ‘I’m Somalian, people are always after me’.

In June 2022 he was arrested on suspicion of threatening to kill his sister but he was charged only with possession of a bladed article and drugs after a razor blade and cannabis were found in his pocket.

Nur had admitted murder in November but a reporting restriction was put in place until the conclusion of his trial.

Jurors were visibly shocked and distressed after the judge told them Nur had also committed a murder which was not revealed during the trial.

Nur admitted murder and two counts of possession of an offensive weapon.

He denied but was convicted of three counts of wounding.