Man denies killing student over 'perceived debt'

A student was fatally stabbed in the heart during an attack over a debt, a murder trial has heard.

Harper Dennis, 18, is appearing at Leicester Crown Court accused of killing De Montfort University (DMU) student Khaleed Oladipo on 3 February.

Oladipo, who knew University of Leicester student Dennis through online gaming, had been on the phone to his girlfriend when he was stabbed in the chest five times in Oxford Street, Leicester, prosecutor Jane Osborne KC told the court.

"They had previously been friends," said Osborne. "But there had been a falling out, seemingly over money that, at the very least, Harper Dennis perceived was owed to him by Khaleed Oladipo."

Dennis, a first-year student, had been friends with 20-year-old Londoner Oladipo, who was in his third year, after meeting in Leicester, and both had been part of a group chat, Clownshow, with two others, the court heard.

But after a falling out over money, both through direct messages and in the Clownshow chat, Osborne said Dennis decided to attack Oladipo over "a perceived debt".

At about 17:00 GMT, Oladipo left his girlfriend's flat carrying a plastic bag of leftover snacks and was on the phone to her while he walked back to his accommodation nearby to watch the football.

But outside the DMU Innovation Centre in Oxford Street, he was met by Dennis who CCTV had shown walking up and down in the "busy" area.

"It took less than 30 seconds for the two men to come together, to struggle and for the defendant to leave," Osborne told the court.

The court was told Oladipo's girlfriend heard him say "why did you come up and stab me?" over the phone before asking for her to call the ambulance.

A post-mortem examination showed he had suffered six wounds, five to the chest including one which penetrated his heart, and one to his thumb.

The stabbing was caught on a passing car's dashcam, which was shown to the court.

The driver recalled seeing "a snowstorm of feathers" from one of their puffer jackets.

Dennis fled and passers-by gave chest compressions to Oladipo, before police and then paramedics treated him.

But despite being taken to the Leicester Royal Infirmary, he was pronounced dead just over an hour after the attack.

Ambulance crews found a black folding knife on the ground at the scene.

That evening, police arrested Dennis at his accommodation in Bath Lane in Leicester, and also seized his mobile, which Dennis refused to hand over the PIN code for.

A search of his flat found four knives - two standard kitchen knives, a 25cm knife with a double-bladed tip in a sheath and a Kombat Tactical knife with serration.

The court heard he had given a flatmate a black bin bag to keep and put out with her rubbish, which officers later found had contained the clothing which CCTV had shown Dennis wearing at the time of the attack.

After a no comment interview with police, Dennis provided police with a statement admitting he had been present but had been acting in self-defence.

Dennis, of Bath Lane, Leicester, denies murder, possession of a bladed article, and failing to comply with a Section 49 notice to disclose the code for his phone.

The trial, which is last to last for three weeks, continues.

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