Chukwuemeka Ahanonu, 24, has been found guilty of the brutal murder of 56-year-old Nila Patel in Leicester. The former university student and drug dealer launched a vicious assault on the helpless mother, punching, kicking, and stamping on her with full force. Ms Patel died two days later from fatal brain injuries.
The terrifying attack took place moments after Ahanonu’s car flipped near Leicester Royal Infirmary on June 24 last year. Ms Patel, who had just got off a bus on her way home, was a complete stranger to him.
During the trial at Leicester Crown Court, Ahanonu, originally from Peckham in south-east London, denied murder but pleaded guilty to manslaughter on grounds of diminished responsibility. After a month-long trial, a jury convicted him of murder.
Judge Timothy Spencer KC described the attack as “shocking, brutal and merciless.” He said, “You murdered a wholly innocent woman. You were angry and looking for a victim.”
The judge added, “You selected her for three reasons: her gender – you wouldn’t have attacked a man, her slight build and height making her vulnerable, and her race. In a moment you called her part of ‘dirty Asians’.”
Ms Patel’s children, Jaidan and Danika, gave emotional victim impact statements in court. Jaidan said, “Nine months ago today, you murdered our mother. The pain of losing her in this way is impossible to accept.”
Danika added, “I will never be able to make sense of the cruelty and randomness of it. My mum was the most important person in my life. Losing her like this has shattered my world.”
The court heard that Ahanonu was claiming universal credit while running a lucrative drug operation, earning around £10,000 a month. Toxicology tests revealed he had cannabis in his system well above the legal limit during the attack.
He had been released on licence just a year earlier after serving two years for a violent offence involving a machete and a cash robbery.
At the start of the trial, Ahanonu pleaded guilty to dangerous driving, possession with intent to supply class B drugs, and assaulting a female emergency officer by biting her.
Outside court, Danika Patel said, “Our mum was not a case number. She was a loving mother, daughter, sister, and the heart of our family. We’re still trying to process the shock and trauma of losing her so violently.”
Detective Constable Rich Gamage described the attack as “the most horrific, violent and random assault by a stranger on a kind, gentle woman simply making her way home.”
He added, “My thoughts remain with Nila Patel’s family and friends who continue to suffer unimaginable pain.”
Originally published by UKNIP.
