Mystery remains over killing of The Specials singer’s grandson as inquest hears final moments
MYSTERY still surrounds the brutal killing of The Specials singer Neville Staple’s grandson after he was stabbed to death in a brawl.
Fidel Glasgow, 21, was knifed during the 17-man fight outside Coventry’s Club M venue in September 2018.
An inquest heard today how there is no evidence who dealt the fatal blow – including if the stabbing was a “self-inflicted” accident.
CCTV footage shown to the court showed Fidel holding an unknown item but does not reveal how he suffered the knife wound.
He was captured swinging his arm in the direction of a second stabbing victim known as Bobby while clutching the implement.
Fidel was then seen staggering before he collapsed on the ground.
He died in hospital shortly after the horror, while Bobby was treated for a serious stab wound.
The inquest heard it is not known what Fidel was clutching at the time or how he sustained the 5cm-deep injury to his groin and abdomen.
Recording a narrative verdict, Coventry area coroner Delroy Henry said a forensic pathologist found it was not possible to state whether the fatal wound was inflicted by a third party or Fidel himself.
He added: “The evidence as I have it is that there is no evidence about what precedes this stab injury, other than a general melee.
“The CCTV doesn’t capture what actually it was or how it came to be that he sustained a stab injury.
“There is no evidence to say one way or the other as to whether that stab wound was inflicted by a third party or by Fidel, or that it was accidental or that it was deliberate.
“In simple terms, how it came about is inconclusive.”
A total of nine men have been convicted and jailed for violent disorder or possession of offensive weapons following the horror.
Among them is Brit Award-nominated rapper Pa Salieu, who was jailed for two years and nine months in December.
Salieu, who was named the BBC‘s Sound of 2021, was captured on CCTV cornering then battering a 23-year-old with a tree branch.
No one has been charged over Fidel’s death.
Giving evidence, Detective Inspector Ian Comfort said Bobby had been interviewed under caution as a suspect but was later ruled out after CCTV showed he could not have caused the injury.
The officer also revealed no individual had been identifiable as having caused the wound, with one hypothesis that it may have been self-inflicted.
DI Comfort added: “We weren’t able to ascertain that either way.”
In a tribute to her son, Fidel’s mum Melanie Staple described him as someone who was “quite bubbly” who “just wanted to look after people”.
She added: “It was just me and him growing up and he could be a bit of a handful, but he had a really big heart.”