Stab victim killed in alleged drugs debt row

Tawana Choruma was stabbed on Station Road in Netley and died at the scene

An 19-year-old, found fatally stabbed in an alley way in a Hampshire village, was killed in a row over a drugs debt, a court has heard.

Tawana Choruma was discovered seriously injured in Station Road, Netley Abbey, on 19 December and died at the scene.

Dominic Adeyemi, 18, of Holmes Close in Netley Abbey denies murder.

His trial at Southampton Crown Court was told Mr Adeyemi stabbed Mr Choruma after a meeting was set up with him and his friend Jack Hibbert who owed Mr Adeyemi £600.

Prosecution barrister Sarah Jones told the jury: "It was a senseless death arising from tensions caused by drugs, drug dealing and the debts people accrue."

Ms Jones described how a meeting between the three man had been arranged in the Station Road area of Netley Abbey because of Mr Hibbert's debt to Mr Adeyemi.

Mr Adeyemi was "pursuing his debt with tenacity and relentlessness", she told the jury.

"It is clear there was considerable suspicion between the parties," she said.

She said Mr Choruma was stabbed by Mr Adeyemi shortly after making a phone call at 18:21 GMT.

She said Mr Choruma was left in a "dark lonely place, bleeding to death".

Several passers-by, including a former nurse, administered CPR until first responders arrived.

But Ms Jones said, given the extent of his injuries, there was "no chance" of saving Mr Choruma's life.

A post-mortem examination showed he died from a 15cm-deep stab wound to the abdomen.

A car driver in a nearby street later said she saw a man with an "intense wide-eyed hostile stare" shortly after the time of the attack, the court was told.

The trial continues.