University Student Stabbed to Death Over Alleged £3,000 Debt, Fake Rolex

University Student Stabbed to Death

University Student Stabbed to Death Over Alleged £3,000 Debt, Fake Rolex

A De Montfort University student was fatally stabbed in the heart while on the phone to his girlfriend after a falling out with a friend over an alleged £3,000 debt and a fake Rolex watch, a murder trial has heard. Khaleed Oladipo, 20, was walking home from his girlfriend’s flat in Leicester on February 3 when he was attacked by Harper Dennis, 18, a first-year student at the University of Leicester, prosecutors told Leicester Crown Court. The two had been friends through online gaming and were part of a Snapchat group, but their relationship soured over money.

Oladipo was on the phone with his girlfriend when he was stabbed five times in the chest, with one wound penetrating his heart. His girlfriend heard him say, “Why did you come up and stab me?” before he asked her to call an ambulance. The stabbing was captured on a passing car’s dashcam, which showed the two men engage in a “short struggle” before falling to the ground. A witness recalled seeing “a snowstorm of feathers” from their puffer jackets during the attack. Prosecutors said the defendant’s arm movement was “consistent with the stab wounds inflicted to the left hand side of Khaleed’s chest.” The attack lasted “in reality, seconds,” according to prosecutor Jane Osborne KC. Oladipo collapsed and never regained consciousness. A post-mortem examination found he had suffered six wounds, five to the chest, with the fatal stab wound being 13cm deep. He was pronounced dead just over an hour later at Leicester Royal Infirmary.

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The court heard that Dennis perceived Oladipo owed him £3,000. The dispute was fueled by an incident involving a fake Rolex watch that Oladipo had given Dennis to sell. Oladipo had allegedly advised Dennis not to go to certain jewellers because the watch was counterfeit. When Dennis attempted to sell it at a jeweller’s in Hatton Garden, London, he was “laughed at” and left “embarrassed and angry.” Messages between the two showed the deteriorating relationship, with Dennis sending a Snapchat message on Boxing Day saying he would “dedicate his life to making sure you suffer for what you did.” On Christmas Day 2025, Dennis allegedly made two anonymous threatening phone calls to Oladipo’s girlfriend, saying Oladipo was “a bad guy” who owed £3,000, and intimating he would come to her if the money was not paid. Financial records showed a final transfer of 60p from Oladipo to Dennis on Christmas Day with the reference “5999 to go.”

Dennis was arrested at his accommodation later that evening. Police seized his mobile phone, but he refused to provide the PIN code. A search of his flat found four knives, including a Kombat Tactical knife with serration. He had also given a flatmate a black bin bag containing the clothing he was seen wearing in CCTV footage at the time of the attack. Dennis, who denies murder, claims he acted in self-defence. He is also charged with possession of a bladed article and failing to provide the PIN for his phone. The trial, expected to last three weeks, continues.