Inquest into the death of Coventry man 'inconclusive'
The grandson of the Specials singer, Neville Staple, died after being stabbed outside a nightclub in 2018.
An inquest into the stabbing of a 21-year-old in Coventry has come back as inconclusive.
Fidel Glasgow, the grandson of the Specials singer Neville Staple, died after being stabbed outside a nightclub during a large-scale disorder.
Nobody has ever been charged with his death, as CCTV imagery of the incident isn't clear enough to see how the injuries were sustained.
Coventry Coroner's Court was told footage of the 17-man commotion, which led to the death of Fidel Glasgow, showed him holding an unknown item, but did not reveal how he came to suffer a fatal injury to his groin and abdomen.
Mr Glasgow died at University Hospital Coventry and Warwickshire after the disorder near Club M on 1 September 2018, while another man was also treated for a serious stab wound.
The inquest heard that the second victim, referred to as Bobby, was chased by a group including Fidel to Hertford Place, after attempting to escape into a locked car.
CCTV footage appeared to capture Mr Glasgow holding an item in his right hand, which he swung in the direction of Bobby.
Shortly afterwards, Fidel was seen to stagger to the right and collapse with over a dozen other people in close proximity, but the footage did not depict the item in Mr Glasgow's hand clearly or show the event in which he sustained his injury.
A total of nine men, including Coventry-based rapper and close friend of Fidel, Pa Salieu, have been convicted and jailed for their parts in the violent scenes in Hertford Place and nearby streets.
Giving evidence to the inquest, Detective Inspector Ian Comfort from West Midlands Police, said Bobby had been interviewed under caution as a suspect but was later ruled out after CCTV showed he could not have caused Mr Glasgow's injury.
The officer explained: "He provided a verbal account to officers at the hospital. He was not able to give us a motive for the attack on him. When we got the better clarity around the CCTV it was clear that he could not have inflicted Fidel's injury. It was at that point he was returned to witness status."
After confirming that 17 people had been involved in disorder near the locked car, the officer said: "A number of them were identified after a painstaking review of the CCTV and extensive witness statements.
"They were arrested on suspicion of murder and violent disorder, interviewed under caution. Where they thought it appropriate for their case, they gave an account. Some of them refused to do so, as is their right. Nobody told us how Fidel came by his injury unfortunately."
In a statement to the court, Mr Glasgow's mother, Melanie Staple, described him as happy, bubbly, and always looking after people.
She told the Coventry area coroner Delroy Henry: "It was just me and him growing up and he could be a bit of a handful, but he had a really big heart."
After considering all evidence, Mr Henry concluded that it was not possible to state whether the fatal wound was inflicted by a third party or the deceased himself, or whether it was accidental or deliberate.
He said: "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."