Crowne Plaza: Man convicted of killing Panashe Bako

Muhammad Khan went to the Crowne Plaza on 21 July after discovering his ex-partner was with another man

A man has been found guilty of stabbing a man to death at a hotel.

Panashe Bako, 20, was discovered at the Crowne Plaza in Holliday Street, Birmingham, on 22 July 2020 and later died in hospital.

Muhammad Khan, 19, was cleared of murder and robbery, but convicted of manslaughter after a trial at Stafford Crown Court.

Caesar Bello was cleared of murder and robbery, but had previously admitted assaulting an emergency worker.

The 18-year-old, of no fixed address, has been sentenced to two months in prison for the assault, which he has already served on remand.

Khan, of Gowan Road, Washwood Heath, Birmingham, is due to be sentenced on 6 August.

West Midlands Police said Mr Bako died from a single knife wound to the chest after a row in one of the hotel rooms.

Panashe Bako, 20, was stabbed at Birmingham's Crowne Plaza hotel in July

The force said Mr Bako had been in the hotel with Khan's ex-partner and the defendant had gone to see her after seeing posts on social media showing the pair of them together.

It said there was then an argument, with Mr Khan claiming the woman owed him money and he tried to take items belonging to her.

When Mr Bako intervened he was fatally stabbed and Khan fled, leaving behind a six-inch knife.

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Khan was arrested later and detectives recovered two phones and clothing stained with Mr Bako's blood.

Det Insp Jim Colclough said: "It is simply tragic that a row in a hotel can have escalated so far and so fast that a young man has lost his life."