University of Northampton student was 'killed in drugs dispute'

Kwabena Osei-Poku was found with stab wounds near the University of Northampton's Waterside Campus

A student was stabbed by another undergraduate after a row over drugs erupted in hall of residence, a jury has heard.

Kwabena Osei-Poku, 19, died in a street near the University of Northampton on 23 April.

Prosecutors say the digital marketing student had been "robbed" of a large quantity of cannabis before his death.

Melvin Lebaga-Idubor and Ogechi Eke deny murder and a further charge of possessing a weapon in a public place.

Mr Lebaga-Idubor's 19-year-old girlfriend, Zhanae Forbes-Coleman, from Edmonton in north London, denies a charge of perverting the course of justice.

Opening the case for the prosecution, Vanessa Marshall KC told Northampton Crown Court that the background to the killing was a dispute about drugs.

Mr Lebaga-Idubor, from Barking in east London, stabbed Mr Osei-Poku "not once but twice", with the fatal injury being a "stab wound to the neck".

Mr Eke, 19, from Epping in north London, was a "secondary party" who had "assisted or encouraged Mr Lebaga-Idubor from start to finish", Ms Marshall said.

The scene of the alleged attack on Mr Osei-Poku in April

Ms Forbes-Coleman, the jury was told, is then alleged to have provided a change of clothing and made arrangements for Mr Lebaga-Idubor to travel by taxi to London, from where he travelled by train to Paris.

The trial heard the victim had been suspended or excluded by the university late last year, but had been allowed back in February.

Ms Marshall said the motivation for the killing was to "scare KB off" from dealing at the university, to steal his drugs, or a combination of both motives.

The trial continues.