A 24-year-old Nigerian man has been found guilty of the m8rder of a woman who he randomly attacked in a Leicester street in the United Kingdom after crashing his car while under the influence of cannabis.
Chukwuemeka Michael Ahanonu, violently attacked 56-year-old Nila Patel during the late afternoon of Tuesday 24 June 2025, in Infirmary Road, Leicester.
Just minutes earlier, Ahanonu, had crashed his car in the area after driving erratically and dangerously around the city centre which included swerving across lanes, driving through traffic lights, towards a bus stop where people were waiting and pedestrians crossing the road.
Patel, who was described as a “beautiful, vibrant soul” and “one of the most kind-hearted people you could ever meet” by her family had been on a bus in the area at the time of the collision.
She had got off the bus and started to walk home when the attack happened.
Security officers from the nearby Leicester Royal Infirmary had rushed out to the scene where they managed to restrain Ahanonu until police arrived.
Medical staff from the hospital also provided emergency medical support to Ms Patel who was taken to hospital with injuries including a fractured skull and a brain injury. She sadly d!ed in hospital two days later.
Ahanonu was arrested at the scene and an investigation was launched by the East Midlands Special Operations Unit Major Incident Team.
Following Ms Patel’s d3ath on Thursday 26 June 2025, Ahanonu was re-arrested on suspicion of m8rder.
On Monday, March 23, 2026 following a trial at Leicester Crown Court, Ahanonu, of Dover Street, Leicester, was found guilty by a jury of the m8rder of Ms Patel.
At the start of the trial, Ahanonu had pleaded guilty to dangerous driving, possession with intent to supply class B drugs – dealer bags of cannabis worth more than 3,000 were seized from a rucksack in the car along with three iPhones which were all found to belong to Ahanonu, and assault of an emergency worker-he bit a female officer following his arrest.
He was found not guilty of a charge of common assault – the charge was in connection with a woman who was known to Ahanonu following an incident which was reported to happened in London during the early hours of Tuesday 24 June.
He has been remanded into custody and is due to be sentenced today (Tuesday).
Enquiries carried out during the investigation showed Ahanonu’s movements on the day of June 24 last year where it was found that he had driven from London to his address in Leicester that morning.
CCTV footage then showed him leaving his flat at 5.28pm that afternoon before driving through the city centre area.
At 5.31pm, he was shown undertaking a vehicle in Welford Place before colliding with a kerb outside a bus stop in Welford Road.
Members of the public were waiting at the bus stop.
