Murder-accused 'annoyed' about fake Rolex, jury told

A man accused of murdering a student near a university campus has told his trial he was annoyed he had been given a fake Rolex watch.

Harper Dennis, 19, is on trial at Leicester Crown Court, accused of the murder of De Montfort University (DMU) student Khaleed Oladipo in Oxford Street, Leicester, on 3 February.

The trial has heard the pair knew each other through online gaming, but the friendship soured after an unsuccessful attempt by Dennis to sell a fake Rolex given to him by Oladipo.

Giving evidence in his defence on Wednesday, Dennis said he was "fearful" for his life when Oladipo approached him with a knife, adding he was "wrestling" to prevent the 20-year-old from stabbing him.

The court previously heard a post-mortem examination showed Oladipo had suffered six wounds, five to the chest, including one which penetrated his heart, and one to his thumb.

Despite being taken to the Leicester Royal Infirmary, he was pronounced dead just over an hour after the stabbing, which took place near the DMU campus.

Dennis, who was a first-year business management student at the University of Leicester, told jurors he had been talking to Oladipo - who was in his third year at DMU - about money and "doing fraud".

He said: "Khaleed initiated it - saying that there are ways you can make money, and with these methods you will gain large amounts of profit through it, through these websites."

Dennis said he wanted to "make some profit", so sent Oladipo £6,000 - from his savings and money his parents had given him - but did not get his money back.

The defendant said Oladipo gave him a Rolex watch. Dennis added: "He said that the watch is real and you will be able to sell it and make the money back from it."

Dennis, the court has previously heard, took the watch to a jewellers in Hatton Garden in Camden, London, and "was laughed at".

"Two jewellers looked at the watch, they examined it and realised it was fake," Dennis said.

"It made me feel a bit annoyed, bit kind of disappointed in Khaleed that he let me down."

Dennis, who told the court he had a gambling addiction, said he threatened to expose Oladipo online as someone who "can't be trusted" and a "bad businessman".

He said on the evening of 3 February, he did not leave his flat intending to find Oladipo, but was walking to his lecture before turning back because he realised he would get there too late.

The court heard he was wearing a snood and Dennis said he pulled it up as he saw a "bigger male" he thought could be Oladipo.

When asked by defence barrister Tim Forte KC why he pulled the face covering up, Dennis said he wanted to "avoid" Oladipo and said their last conversation had been "negative".

Dennis told the jury Oladipo was shouting at him - and he was "confused" as he saw Oladipo "fiddling" with something in his hand.

"As he came closer, I saw he had a knife," Dennis added.

He told the court Oladipo "lunged" towards him but did not strike him with the knife.

Dennis said Oladipo "overpowered" him and "dragged" him to the ground - where he said he could not get up.

"I was fearful of my life," Dennis said.

He added he picked up the knife when it was on the ground, and was "desperate" to get out of the situation.

"I got up and tried to run. I turned around to see if he was going to continue to try to attack me," he said.

"He was walking towards me, shouting. He said something along the lines of 'are you mad?' And after he said 'why are you running?'"

Dennis said his memory of the fight between them was "not that clear because everything happened so fast", and he was moving his hands to get Oladipo off him.

The defendant denied intending to harm Oladipo and said he was "shocked" when he was arrested on suspicion of murder at his accommodation later that evening.

In cross-examination, prosecutor Jane Osborne KC asked if Dennis knew he had stabbed Oladipo, to which he replied: "I didn't know and I didn't know he was hurt, and I didn't intend to cause any serious harm."

Dennis, of Bath Lane, Leicester, denies murder, possession of a bladed article, and failing to comply with a Section 49 notice to disclose the code for his phone.

The trial continues.

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