🔴 Man Charged With Murder After Leicester BMW Crash And Street Attack
Michael Chuwuemeka charged with murder after fatal assault on Nila Patel, 56, following Leicester BMW crash. Also charged with drugs and multiple assaults. A man has been charged with murder after a pedestrian was violently assaulted and fatally injured following a car crash in Leicester city centre.
The incident began just after 5.30pm on Tuesday 24 June, when a white BMW 1 Series was reported to have overturned on Aylestone Road, near its junction with Welford Road and the Voco Hotel. The driver was seen exiting the wreckage and running down the centre of the road towards Leicester Royal Infirmary.
Moments later, a woman in her fifties was attacked in the street and left with catastrophic injuries. She was taken to Queen’s Medical Centre in Nottingham, where she died on Thursday 26 June.
The victim has now been formally identified as Nila Patel, aged 56. A post-mortem examination has confirmed a head injury as the provisional cause of death.
Michael Chuwuemeka, aged 23, of Dover Street, Leicester, has been charged with murder and remanded into custody. He is due to appear at Leicester Magistrates’ Court on Saturday.
Police have also brought a number of further charges against Chuwuemeka, which together outline a broader series of events unfolding over the course of the day:
• Dangerous driving – officers at the scene concluded the collision was not caused by chance or road conditions, but by dangerous and erratic driving prior to the BMW overturning.
• Possession with intent to supply Class B drugs – following the crash, Chuwuemeka was found in possession of a substantial quantity of suspected controlled substances, discovered during searches of both his person and the vehicle.
• Attempted grievous bodily harm (GBH) – this charge relates to an alleged assault on Welford Road shortly before the crash, in a separate incident now linked to the same timeline.
• Assault of an emergency worker – after being detained, Chuwuemeka is alleged to have assaulted a police officer, leading to a further charge under legislation protecting public service personnel.
• Actual bodily harm (ABH) – this final charge concerns an alleged earlier assault in London, reportedly involving a different victim in the early hours of the same day, Tuesday 24 June.
Chuwuemeka remains in police custody as detectives from the East Midlands Special Operations Unit continue their investigation into the sequence of events and any possible further victims.
Police are appealing for information from the public, especially from anyone who witnessed the crash, the street attack, or has relevant dashcam or mobile phone footage.
Information can be submitted online through the dedicated public portal, or by contacting Leicestershire Police on 101, quoting incident reference 25*367901. Anonymous reports can also be submitted via Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
Well, that’s all for now. But until our next article, please stay tuned, stay informed, but most of all stay safe, and I’ll see you then.
