Rapper Pa Salieu cleared of violent disorder incident

Rapper Pa Salieu was named the BBC's Sound of 2021

A rapper has been cleared of engaging in violent disorder during a brawl which saw his friend stabbed to death.

Pa Salieu was, however, convicted of possessing a bottle as an offensive weapon at Warwick Crown Court.

The award-winning artist had already admitted a second count of violent disorder relating to an attack on a man shortly after the fight in which Fidel Glasgow was fatally stabbed.

The Coventry-based artist will be sentenced on a date yet to be fixed.

The rapper, appeared under his full name Pa Salieu Gaye with co-defendants Michael Mistouflet, Meidel Dange and Adil Naseer - all aged 25 - who also denied taking part in the violent disorder.

The 24-year-old artist of the Hillfields area of the city was accused of joining a group that chased and cornered a man during violence outside a Coventry bar in 2018.

He told the trial he had been sipping brandy and Jagermeister on 1 September 2018 and had chased Ikemefuna Okosisi-Ezeanyika to disarm him, believing he had a knife.

During the wider violence, Fidel Glasgow - a close friend of Pa Salieu and grandson of Specials singer Neville Staple - was fatally stabbed.

Fidel Glasgow, 21, died in Coventry city centre in 2018

The court heard the charges facing the defendants did not arise from the death of the 21-year-old.

Jurors cleared Mr Dange, and Naseer of violent disorder but convicted Mistouflet, who was also found guilty of possessing a belt as an offensive weapon.

At a previous hearing Mistouflet and Naseer had also admitted a separate charge relating to violent disorder later in the day.

Gaye, Mistouflet and Naseer will be sentenced alongside six other defendants aged between 21 and 29 who admitted a variety of charges including violent disorder at previous hearings.

Pa Salieu will be sentenced at Warwick Crown Court at a date yet to be fixed

Det Insp Michelle Allen of West Midlands Police said: "We are still actively investigating Fidel's murder and we remain in contact with his family to keep them fully updated with developments.

"Although these convictions are not in relation to the attack on Fidel, it is our dearest wish to hold someone to account for his death and we will follow any new leads.

"We continue to ask anyone with information, no matter how insignificant it may seem, to come forward."