'Direct appeal' over unexplained stabbing death

Officers hope that sharing Mr Samuel's image may prompt witnesses to contact them

Police have launched a "direct appeal" to anyone with information about the death of a 21-year-old man who walked into a hospital with stab wounds.

Raheem Samuel would not say how he had sustained the injuries when he was treated at Leicester Royal Infirmary in April 2019.

He was discharged, but later that year suffered a cardiac arrest believed to have been caused by his wounds.

Officers have described the murder investigation as "challenging".

Det Ch Insp Tony Yarwood said: "I am directly appealing to those people who know what happened to Raheem and who was responsible for his murder as I believe that there is someone out there who has information, crucial information, which could make a huge difference to our investigation."

'Complex case'

Mr Samuel, from Humberstone in Leicester, arrived at the hospital in the early hours of 6 April with two stab wounds to his back.

Leicestershire Police said they spoke to him there, but that all he told them was it happened "in town" - which they believe meant Leicester city centre.

He was discharged the next day, but was re-admitted on 6 November that year after suffering a cardiac arrest. He died three days later.

A post-mortem examination found that his death was caused by one of the stab wounds, and a murder investigation was launched.

Police said they had followed some lines of enquiry, but were lacking forensic and CCTV evidence. So far, no-one has been arrested or charged.

Mr Yarwood said: "This has been a very challenging and complex case.

"We have been doing everything we can to find the person or people responsible for Raheem's death and we continue to do everything we can to find answers for Raheem's family.

"This month marks a year since his death which understandably is a difficult time for them and solving this crime could give them some much-needed closure."

He added that "alliances can change" or "relationships could have broken down", and Crimestoppers was offering a £10,000 reward for information leading to a conviction.