Coventry rapper Pa Salieu jailed over fatal mass brawl
He's been sentenced at Warwick Crown Court.
Last updated 2nd Dec 2022
Coventry rap star Pa Salieu has been sentenced to 33 months in prison for his part in violent disorder which erupted after his friend was stabbed to death in Coventry in 2018.
He admitted violent disorder at a previous hearing, having been caught on CCTV using a tree branch to repeatedly hit a gang attack victim who spent 10 days in hospital.
Salieu, who was named the BBC's Sound of 2021, was cleared by a jury in March of engaging in violent disorder during a mass brawl in Hertford Place, Coventry, which saw his friend Fidel Glasgow fatally stabbed.
But the Brit Awards nominee was convicted of possessing a bottle as an offensive weapon after telling jurors he smashed and brandished it to defend himself.
Following his arrest, the court heard, Salieu, from Hillfields, Coventry, told police Mr Glasgow was his best friend and then exercised his right to silence.
No one has ever been charged with the murder of Mr Glasgow - the grandson of The Specials singer Neville Staple - despite extensive inquiries into disorder following a music event at Coventry's Club M in the early hours of September 1, 2018.
Passing sentence on the 25-year-old rapper, Judge Peter Cooke told Salieu: "Anyone harbouring the view that you are a young man being hard done by should pause to reflect that despite having a conviction for carrying a knife three years earlier - which resulted in a suspended sentence - in the course of these events you used two bottles and a stick.
"It was your intention to turn a bottle into a jagged weapon."
Salieu and others involved in the violence had acted like a "mob," the judge said, adding: "The case illustrates the dangers for any young man of acting with a pack mentality and getting involved in mass disorder.
"If you do that somebody is likely to end up seriously injured or dead.
"What happened to Fidel could have happened to anyone in that melee."
Offering mitigation for Salieu, defence barrister Jonathan Woodcock said the death of Mr Glasgow was not the only time the artist had lost a friend.
Mr Woodcock said Salieu had used a stick rather a branch and it was not easy to determine how many blows he had delivered.
The barrister added: "It's a very unattractive offence, of course it is. He is not involved in bringing 'Bobby' to the floor.
"He does make an effort to keep (another defendant) away - it's to his credit that he does that. He was not party to the most serious aspects of the violence."
Passing a sentence of 27 months for violent disorder and a further six months, to be served consecutively, for possession of an offensive weapon, the judge said: "I have no difficulty in accepting you are a young man who has already suffered impacts on your career by virtue of these proceedings.
"But I observe that it is a career that has flourished nonetheless."
Judge Cooke also said he was taking into account that Salieu was close with Mr Glasgow, and that the star had made "laudable" efforts to assist people from disadvantaged backgrounds.