Court told woman died in random, unprovoked assault

A court has heard that an alleged drug dealer fatally attacked a woman moments after crashing a car in Leicester city centre.

Prosecutors told jurors that 23-year-old former university student Chukwuemeka Ahanonu targeted 56-year-old Nila Patel, a mother he did not know, in a violent daylight assault on 24 June last year. She died in hospital two days later after suffering catastrophic brain injuries.

Opening the case, prosecutor Mary Prior KC said the incident unfolded shortly after a vehicle driven by the defendant overturned near Leicester Royal Infirmary. Ahanonu, of Dover Street, Leicester, escaped the crash unhurt, the court heard.

He denies murder but has admitted manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.

Leicester Crown Court was told Patel had just stepped off a bus and was walking home while speaking on the phone to a friend when she was attacked from behind. The prosecutor said she was dragged to the ground, punched with extreme force and then repeatedly kicked and stamped on as she lay defenceless on the pavement.

Emergency services treated her at the scene before she was taken to hospital with severe head and facial injuries. Despite medical efforts, she died two days later.

The court heard the defendant had been living in Leicester for several years and claimed to earn large sums dealing drugs to hundreds of customers. On the day of the attack he had allegedly been driving dangerously before the crash.

After the collision, he ran along the road toward Patel and launched the assault, jurors were told. Part of the incident was captured on body-worn cameras used by security staff from the nearby hospital who had responded to the crash.

Prosecutors said the defendant maintains he did not intend to kill or cause serious harm. His legal team is expected to argue he was experiencing emerging schizophrenia at the time.

The trial is expected to continue for several weeks.