A coroner has recorded a narrative verdict on a 21-year-old who was stabbed during disorder outside a nightclub, after hearing that no evidence shows whether the victim’s wound was caused by a deliberate act or a “self-infected” accident.
Coventry Coroner’s Court was told CCTV footage of a 17-man melee, which led to the death of Fidel Glasgow, showed him holding an unknown item, but did not reveal how he came to suffer a fatal injury to his groin and abdomen.
Mr Glasgow, the grandson of The Specials singer Neville Staple, died in hospital after the disorder near Coventry’s Club M venue in September 2018, while another man was also treated for a serious stab wound.
An inquest held on Tuesday heard that the second victim, referred to during the hearing as Bobby, was chased by a group including Fidel and was obscured from view of CCTV cameras in Hertford Place, after attempting to escape into a locked car.
There is no evidence to say one way or the other as to whether that stab wound was inflicted by a third party or by Fidel, or that it was accidental or that it was deliberate— Coventry area Coroner Delroy Henry
CCTV footage shown to Coventry area coroner Delroy Henry appeared to capture Mr Glasgow holding an implement in his right hand, and then swinging his right arm in the direction of Bobby.
Shortly afterwards Mr Glasgow, from Hillfields, Coventry, was seen to stagger to the right and collapse with 16 other people in close proximity.
Mr Henry was told the footage did not depict the item in Mr Glasgow’s hand clearly or show the event in which he sustained his injury, a wound around 5cm deep.
A total of nine men, including award-winning Coventry-based rapper Pa Salieu, have been convicted of violent disorder or possession of offensive weapons and jailed for their parts in violent scenes in Hertford Place and nearby streets.
Salieu, also from Hillfields, was jailed for 33 months in December last year after a court heard he told police Mr Glasgow was his best friend and then exercised his right to silence.
Giving evidence to the inquest, Detective Inspector Ian Comfort, of West Midlands Police, said Bobby had been interviewed under caution as a suspect but was later ruled out after CCTV showed he could not have caused Mr Glasgow’s injury.
The officer said of Bobby: “He provided a verbal account to officers at the hospital.
“He was not able to give us a motive for the attack on him.
“When we got the better clarity around the CCTV it was clear that he could not have inflicted Fidel’s injury.
“It was at that point he was returned to witness status.”
Mr Comfort said no individual had been identifiable as having caused Mr Glasgow’s wound, which caused massive blood loss, and that one hypothesis was that it may have been self-inflicted.
“We weren’t able to ascertain that either way,” he told the court.
After confirming that 17 people had been involved in disorder near the locked car, the senior officer said: “A number of them were identified after a painstaking review of the CCTV and extensive witness statements.
“They were arrested on suspicion of murder and violent disorder, interviewed under caution.
“Where they thought it appropriate for their case, they gave an account.
“Some of them refused to do so, as is their right. Nobody told us how he (Fidel) came by his injury unfortunately.”
The officer said two kitchen knives and a blade disguised as a credit card were found within an inner cordon set up by police, but none of the weapons could be forensically linked to any offence against either victim.
The inquest was told Mr Glasgow was on a night out with friends and had recently started his own clothing brand, selling T-shirts, caps and tracksuits.
In a statement to the court, Mr Glasgow’s mother, Melanie Staple, described him as someone who was “quite bubbly” who “just wanted to look after people”.
“It was just me and him growing up and he could be a bit of a handful, but he had a really big heart,” she told Mr Henry.
Recording a narrative verdict, Mr Henry told Miss Staple that her son would be proud of her bravery in attending the inquest in person.
Having considered written evidence from a forensic pathologist that it was not possible to state whether the fatal wound was inflicted by a third party or the deceased himself, or whether it was accidental or deliberate, Mr Henry said: “The evidence as I have it is that there is no evidence about what precedes this stab injury, other than a general melee.
“The CCTV doesn’t capture what actually it was or how it came to be that he sustained a stab injury.
“There is no evidence to say one way or the other as to whether that stab wound was inflicted by a third party or by Fidel, or that it was accidental or that it was deliberate.
“In simple terms, how it came about is inconclusive.”
