A DRUG dealer who stamped on the head of a mother-of-two with "full force" in a random attack after crashing his car near a Leicester hospital has been jailed for life with a minimum term of 21 and a half years.
Chukwuemeka Ahanonu, 24, a former university student from Dover Street, Leicester, originally from Peckham in south-east London, was a complete stranger to 56-year-old Nila Patel when he punched, kicked and stamped on her following a collision near Leicester Royal Infirmary on June 24 last year.
Patel, who had just alighted from a bus and was walking home, died in hospital two days later from a fractured skull and brain injury. Security staff from the nearby hospital rushed to the scene and restrained Ahanonu until police arrived.
Sentencing Ahanonu at Leicester Crown Court on Tuesday (24), Judge Timothy Spencer KC was unsparing in his condemnation. "You murdered a wholly innocent woman," he said. "It was shocking, brutal and merciless. You were angry, you were looking for a victim."
The judge said Patel had been selected because of her gender, her slight build and her race. "I'm satisfied," he told the court, "the third thing was her race. In an unguarded moment, you talked about 'dirty Asians'."
Ahanonu had denied murder, pleading guilty to manslaughter on grounds of diminished responsibility. A jury rejected his account after a month-long trial.
In a chilling police interview shown to the court, Ahanonu claimed he had no memory of the attack. When shown CCTV footage, he laughed. Asked why, he replied: "Because if I don't laugh, I'll cry. I'm in so much pain."
Judge Spencer added, "I'm quite satisfied you retain much more memory of this attack than you have ever had the courage to admit," he said.
Ahanonu had been high on cannabis at the time. Tests found a THC level of 7.6 micrograms in his system, well above the legal limit of 2mcg.
He had also been released from prison on licence a year before the killing, and was claiming universal credit while running what the court heard was a "significant" drugs business earning him up to £10,000 a month.
In victim impact statements, Patel's son Jaidan told the defendant: "Nine months ago today you murdered our mother. The pain of losing her in this way is impossible to accept." His sister Danika, who was 21 at the time of the attack, said she would "never be able to make sense of the cruelty and randomness of it," adding: "My mum was the most important person in my life. Losing her in such a violent and senseless way has shattered my world."
Detective inspector Emma Matts of Leicestershire Police described it as "the most horrific, violent and random attack by a stranger on a kind, gentle and loving woman who was simply making her way home."
Patel was described by her family as "a beautiful, vibrant soul" and "the heart of our family."
