A 23-year-old drug dealer earning up to £10,000 a month stamped a stranger to death in broad daylight while high on cannabis, a court has been told.
Chukwuemeka Ahanonu allegedly killed 56-year-old mother Nila Patel following a car crash near Leicester Royal Infirmary on June 24 last year.
Leicester Crown Court heard Ms Patel suffered catastrophic brain injuries during the attack and died in hospital two days later.
Prosecutor Mary Prior KC told jurors: “He was a complete stranger to her. This happened in broad daylight in Leicester city centre.”
Ahanonu denies murder but has admitted manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.
The court was told Ms Patel had just stepped off a bus and was walking home while speaking to a friend on the phone when she was attacked.
Ms Prior said: “She was pulled from behind by the defendant, punched in the face with such severity that she fell on to the pavement. She was then kicked and stamped on as she lay on the floor… stamped on her face.”
Despite the efforts of emergency crews, she later died from severe brain and facial injuries.
Leicester Crown Court heard Ms Patel suffered catastrophic brain injuries during the attack
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PA“The defendant killed Nila Patel by punching her, by kicking her and by stamping on her,” the prosecutor said.
“She did nothing to cause the attack and could not defend herself.”
Jurors heard Ahanonu ran what was described as a “significant” drug operation serving more than 250 customers, while also claiming Universal Credit.
His business allegedly funded a flat, a BMW and his own personal cannabis use.
Ms Patel was walking home while speaking to a friend on the phone when she was attacked, jurors heard
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LIECESTERSHIRE POLICE
Ms Prior said: “He even had packages that stopped cannabis from smelling so he could post his sales.”
She added: “He had driven dangerously in the city and then crashed the car he was driving, which caused the car to turn upside down. He was not injured in the crash.
“He got out of the car and ran up the middle of the road towards Nila and attacked her.
“Some of the attack was caught on the body-worn camera of one of the security guards from the Leicester Royal Infirmary who had gone to help anyone involved in the car collision which the defendant caused.
“The end of the attack was filmed by a member of the public on their mobile telephone.”
The attack took place near Leicester Royal Infirmary on June 24 last year
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PA
His defence is expected to argue he was developing schizophrenia at the time and had consumed large amounts of cannabis before the incident.
However, Ms Prior cautioned jurors against accepting intoxication as a valid defence.
“The voluntary consumption of a substance which causes you to act in a way that you would not act when sober is not a defence to murder because an intoxicated intent is still an intent,” she told the court.
The trial continues.