Overview
- Chukwuemeka Ahanonu, convicted by a Leicester jury on Monday, received a life sentence on Tuesday with a minimum term of 21 years and six months.
- Minutes after overturning his BMW near Leicester Royal Infirmary on June 24, 2025, he pulled Nila Patel from behind, punched her, and stamped on her head, and she died in hospital two days later from a fractured skull and brain injury.
- A toxicology test hours after the assault recorded THC at 7.6 micrograms per liter against a 2 microgram limit, and police found dealer bags of cannabis in his car.
- He denied murder and claimed diminished responsibility but had already admitted dangerous driving, possession with intent to supply cannabis, and assaulting an emergency worker, as prosecutors stressed that voluntary intoxication is no defense to murder.
- The judge said he chose Patel based on her gender, slight build, and race, while hospital security and witnesses restrained him at the scene and the victim’s children described a profound and lasting loss.