Chilling footage reveals final moments of student, 19, stabbed to death by a fellow undergraduate, 19, at his university campus in row over £1,000 of stolen cannabis

• Kwabena Osei-Poku was murdered by Melvin Lebaga-Idubor on 23 April at the University of Northampton

CCTV footage shows the final moments of a university student’s life before he was stabbed to death by fellow undergraduate.

Kwabena Osei-Poku, 19, was knifed in the neck by Melvin Lebaga-Idubor, 19, on 23 April on New South Bridge Road at the University of Northampton. 

The court heard how a fight broke out between the two students after Osei-Poku accused Lebaga-Idubor of stealing £1000 of cannabis from him.

Lebaga-Idubor fled the scene and the next day got on the Eurostar to Paris, where he planned to travel to Nigeria in an attempt to evade capture. 

Kwabena Osei-Poku, 19, (pictured) was a digital marketing student at the University of Northampton was stabbed to death on campus on April 23

Killer Melvin Lebaga-Idubor, 19, (pictured) tried to flee to Nigeria after the incident before being convinced to return to the UK 

Pictured: Police at South Bridge Road were the murder took place. The court heard how a fight broke out between the two students over £1000 of cannabis

One witness heard Lebaga-Idubor say: ‘This is my strip. What are you doing strutting drugs around here? Our line is here.’

Lebaga-Idubor then left the flat holding the drugs along with a second man, Ogechi Eke, 19.

Footage shows Osei-Poku following the pair moments before Lebaga-Idubor stabs him twice, including once in the neck, and leaves him bleeding to death.

Passersby called 999 and ambulance crews raced to the campus but despite their best efforts Osei-Poku died at the scene.

Following the killing, Lebaga-Idubor called his girlfriend, Zhanae Forbes-Coleman, 19, and a friend, Antonio Huian, 18, to help him flee the UK.

Huian took him to hospital due to ‘injuries sustained during the altercation with Kwabena.’

Lebaga-Idubor (green arrow), Osei-Poku (purple arrow), Antonio Huian (white arrow) Ogechi Eke (blue arrow) leaving the flat after taking the drugs

Osei-Poku (purple arrow) following Lebaga-Idubor (green arrow) and Eke (blue arrow) after they took £1000  worth of Cannabis from his flat 

Osei-Poku (purple arrow) moments before he was stabbed in the neck by Lebaga-Idubor (green arrow)

CCTV shows the killer walking into the hospital with his T-shirt raised up and appearing to wipe blood off his chest before leaving without receiving treatment.

The clothes he was wearing during the killing were then burnt in a metal bin in Huian’s back garden.

A court heard Forbes-Coleman brought him clothes and documents before Lebaga-Idubor was driven to his home in Barking, east London, before boarding the Eurostar.

He arrived in Paris and planned to travel onwards to Nigeria, but he was later persuaded to return to the UK where he was arrested.

Lebaga-Idubor and Eke were charged with murder and possession of an offensive weapon.

Huian and Forbes-Coleman were both charged with attempting to pervert the course of justice.

Lebaga-Idubor was found guilty of murder and possession of a knife after a six-week trial at Northampton Crown Court.

Eke was found not guilty of the same charges and cleared of a further count of manslaughter.

Forbes-Coleman was found not guilty of attempting to pervert the course of justice.

Huian had pleaded guilty to attempting to pervert the course of justice at an earlier hearing.

Lebaga-Idubor and Huian will be sentenced at the same court on a date to be confirmed in January. 

Lebaga-Idubor (pictured) entering the hospital appearing to wipe blood off his chest before leaving without receiving treatment

Lebaga-Idubor (green arrow)  and Huian (white arrow) in the hospital. Lebaga-Idubor blood soaked clothes were burnt in a metal bin in Huian’s back garden

Osei-Poku’s mother Joyce Osei-Poku, who calls her son Alfred said this: ‘Alfred was my oldest son. He always made me feel valuable and special, especially on Mother’s Day. 

‘He was the one that I would normally share secret ideas with, someone I could always talk to in confidence.

‘He was always there if I needed time off or to go away, he would always volunteer to care for his younger siblings. When he looked at you, it was like he could see into your soul. 

‘He was genuinely a joy to our home and a precious individual to our family, friends and his community.

‘I have lost something that nothing on this earth can replace.’

Speaking after the verdicts, Senior Investigating Officer, Detective Inspector Simon Barnes, of the East Midlands Special Operations Unit (EMSOU), said: ‘Like a lot of young people starting out at university, Kwabena had certain aspects of his life that were completely unknown to his family.

‘With the lure of money, he became involved in the supply of cannabis to his friends and fellow students, a decision that ultimately proved fatal.

‘Drug violence is not simply confined to those involved in Class A supply.

‘As soon as you enter this world, you create enemies and become a target to other dealers.

‘No-one deserves to be murdered in the street, like Kwabena was. He did not deserve that. His family did not deserve that.

‘Kwabena still had his whole life ahead of him and possessed many good qualities that his mother in particular was very proud of.

‘It has been a complex case to investigate with 14 arrests and 24 scenes to process, but I am pleased that today, this hard work has paid off and we have disproven the defendant’s lies and got to the truth of what happened to Kwabena.’

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