Rapper Pa Salieu has been jailed for 33 months for violent disorder.
He stood trial with eight others at Warwick Crown Court today for their part in violent disorder which broke out in Coventry following the death of Fidel Glasgow in September 2018.
Opening the case, the prosecutor told the court: “The events took place outside club M after a concert…part of a wider music festival, the Godiva festival which was ongoing at the time. Many hundreds were in attendance at club M on that night.
“In terms of security, there was a knife arch in place to scan those entering. Before and after the violence broke out, the defendants armed themselves with weapons, taken in cars or otherwise but not inside the venue.
“When it closed around 5am, Bobby (as he is referred to in the court) was spotted and recognised as someone Mr Botamba had an altercation with previously. He then spread the word amongst friends and associates there. By 5.17am, most defendants can be seen to follow Bobby.”
CCTV footage is now being shown to the court. It shows “direct violence” breaking out after a confrontation between ‘Bobby’ and one of the defendants, Brendon Gama. In the clip, there is “pushing and shoving between the different parties.”
In the clip, the prosecutor says Pa Gaye is seen to “strike Bobby on the floor”. He says: “That shows Mr Botamba striking Bobby and Mr Gama armed with a belt trying to effectively whip Bobby as he runs away.” Bobby is then pursued by others through the streets of Coventry before he is ‘surrounded’ by the defendants.
“It can be seen in those seconds the group surround him, there are silhouettes of arms in hands, which suggests those with weapons were trying to use them. Mr Amadu, he’s just come into frame, he can be seen to carry a knife, having apparently left the area covered by CCTV to obtain one before returning. We can’t say where he got the knife from but it must have been off the cameras.”
The court hears how Botanba was carrying a bottle canister, Gama a belt and Fidel Glasgow, who tragically died, “had a knife in his hand and was clearly one of the first to strike the blow to Bobby.” The court is told it “cannot be determined what he weapon was in his hand” at the time of the blow.
Bobby has managed to run and escape, but the violence continues. The prosecutor says: “Mr Gaye leans down to pick up the bottle, Mr Glasgow to the right.
“In relation to Mr Glasgow, no one appears to have noticed he had been stabbed.” There is only one person who “notices”, the court hears. “Otherwise no one else. Everybody is following Bobby,” adds the prosecutor.
As the violence continues on the streets of Coventry city centre, Bobby is struck with a “bottled canister on three occasions”, along with a belt a number of times.
“What we do say is that once Bobby had run from that car, he had been stabbed. That’s apparent from his witness statement and the CCTV footage, and the medical evidence. It was during that melee that Fidel Glasgow was fatally stabbed,” the prosecutor says.
None of the defendants, the prosecutor told the court, have provided police with any information on how Fidel was stabbed. Police are still investigating his murder.
Bobby is seen on CCTV running away from the group. He is pursued again through the streets as the defendants continue to “attack” him. Meanwhile, a “number of members of the public are taking evasive action to avoid what’s going on”. Bobby pursued by a number of defendants onto the ring road.
“Clearly Mr Gaye throws the bottle that he had picked up towards Bobby,” the prosecutor explains. Bobby is then pursued by Gaye and others towards Queen Victoria Road and along Coventry’s ring road. Mr Gaye has picked up a branch of a tree en route and uses it to repeatedly strike him on the head, four quick blows in quick succession, him having previously thrown the bottle. Bobby is very obviously injured, just from the way he is moving.
“He is kicked to the floor. Mr Gaye runs over with his belt, he kicks him to his body area.” Another defendant then kicks him to his head area at the same time.
Bobby is kicked, whipped with a belt and struck on the floor with a bottle canister. The violence ends when Bobby manages to push one of the defendants away. The group disperses, “leaving Bobby on the floor”.
‘Bobby’ suffered serious injuries, including a stab wound to his left side requiring “immediate, extensive surgery”, along with lacerations and abrasions.
He spent ten days in hospital before he was discharged. Club M was immediately closed down after the incident and has never reopened, the court hears.
The defendants to be sentenced today were “only identified” after an extensive police investigation into the murder of Fidel Glasgow, the court is told.
“Fidel Glasgow died as a result of this incident and Bobby was very seriously injured,” the prosecutor says.
Jonathan Woodcock, defending Pa Gaye, asks for a suspended sentence as he says there is a “realistic prospect of rehabilitation.”
Judge Peter Cooke responds that the violent disorder he pleaded guilty to is a “continuation of a pursuit after all he [Bobby] had been through throughout”.
Judge Cooke adds: “He’s pursued, he’s cornered, brought to the ground – not by your guy but others – they finish what had been started leaving him out for the count on the ground, in the street.
“It’s not quite as bad as the first episode but, it’s finishing off the job that was already underway.”
Mr Woodcock adds: “He’s not involved in bringing Bobby to the floor. He’s not party to the first episode or to the most serious act of violence. He thought Bobby was armed.”
Judge Cooke has said he has to weigh up how to proceed on sentencing due to there being two separate brawls.
He said: “At the end of the incident, we were left with one dead man and one man spending ten days in hospital having to be attended to by surgeons. I have little difficulty agreeing with prosecution that the first disorder in which Fidel was caught up with, and died, can only be category one.
“The Queen Victoria Street disorder, it’s more fairly put in category 2. I agree with that assessment by the prosecution.
He said: “You are a young man who has already suffered impacts on your career as a result of these proceedings, but I observe it is a career that has flourished none the less.
“I observe you were close to the man who died in this attack. You have used your fame to assist other people, partic disadvantaged backgrounds, those are factors that speak well of you and must be taken into account in your favour.
“Despite having a conviction for having a knife three years earlier, for which you were given a suspended sentence, that should have been a warning to you, you used two bottles and a stick.”
CLUB M
Staff at Club M say they warned police “someone was going to be killed” weeks before Fidel Glasgow was stabbed to death outside.
The shocking claim was made just days before a council meeting to decide if the club’s licence should be scrapped.
West Midlands Police called for the review after Fidel – the grandson of Coventry ska legend Neville Staple – was fatally stabbed outside the club on September 1.
But a spokesman for the violence-hit club, on Hertford Place, said “We told police three weeks before this happened [Fidel was stabbed] that someone was going to be killed if they [police] didn’t tackle the gangs outside the club.
“Where does the responsibility lie?”
The claim was put to Coventry Police , but Chief Superintendent Mike O’Hara did not respond to it directly.
He instead said: “We held a number of meetings with the club’s management team in the lead up to the tragic death of Fidel Glasgow.
“The club was already on an action plan following a previous incident and officers were working with the management team to resolve the issues.
Fidel had been banned from the club, according to police documents prepared for the council licence hearing.
The club’s spokesman alleged Fidel had never been in the club on the night he was stabbed – despite the police documents claiming he was part of a small group inside the club who had gone outside to confront a large group.
“He had been banned for two years,” the club’s spokesman added.
“It [the stabbing of Fidel] was at 5.30 in the morning. Our last admission was around 2am.
“In the Licensing Act it says we have to protect the public from harm. That’s all we have done. We’ve knocked people back.
“If someone turns back up an hour and half after he’s been refused admission and then he’s in a fight round the back, how can we do anything?”
He added that bouncers were not insured off the premises so could not have intervened.
