Student faces up to 10 years in prison for stabbing his friend to death over a fake Rolex watch

A student who stabbed his former friend in the heart after an argument over a fake Rolex watch has been sentenced to 10 years in prison.

Sky News reports that a jury at Leicester Crown Court found Harper Dennis, 19, not guilty of murder, but guilty of manslaughter, possessing an offensive weapon and failing to provide the PIN to his phone on Tuesday.

The court heard that Dennis plunged a knife into the chest of Khaleed Oladipo, 20, five times while near De Montfort University in Leicester on the evening of February 3 this year.

Prosecutor Jane Osborne KC told the jury that Dennis, from West Drayton, London, killed Mr Oladipo, who he befriended through online gaming, because he was “perceived to be in debt”.

During the two-week trial, Ms Osborne told the court that on the day of the incident, Mr Oladipo and Dennis were both on Oxford Street near the De Montfort University Innovation Centre.

He said the stabbing was captured on dashcam footage, and that after the attack, Dennis left the scene and gave a bag of clothes to his flatmate.

Mr Oladipo was on the phone with his girlfriend at the time of the attack, the court heard him say: “Why did you come up to me and stab me?”

Judge Timothy Spencer KC told Dennis he had developed a “burning hatred” for the victim.

He said: “His background is unclear. You and Khaleed knew each other of course. You were probably quite friendly at times.

“The moral high ground is not open to you. You have portrayed yourself as the injured party, but the reality is that the financial transactions in this case were all related to fraud.

“This money was designed to fund criminal activity. The dispute between the two of you was further fueled by him giving you a Rolex watch that you thought was compensation for your losses, which turned out to be fake and did nothing to assuage your bitterness.”

While giving evidence, Dennis told the court he feared for his life and acted in self-defence when Oladipo approached him with a knife.

He also told the jury he had sent Oladipo £6,000 in savings, given to him by his parents, to make money by conning people.

Dennis then said he didn’t receive his money back, so Mr. Oladipo gave him a Rolex watch, telling him it was genuine and he could sell it.

“I went to Hatton Garden to sell the watches,” he said. “I went to a jewelry shop. Two jewelers saw the watch, they checked it and realized it was fake.

“It made me feel a little annoyed, a little disappointed in Khaleed because he let me down.”

Dennis also told the court he had a gambling addiction, and said he threatened to expose Mr Oladipo online as someone who was “untrustworthy” and a “bad businessman”.

In a victim impact statement read in court by Ms Osborne before Dennis was sentenced, Mr Oladipo’s sister Precious Oladipo said their mother had withdrawn because she was “very unwell with grief”.

She said: “Losing a child changes her brain. He was, in every way, her light and joy and losing him has deprived her of her spirit.

“He cried every day, including at work, in the hospital. He mumbled that he sent Khaleed to university, as he always did after holidays, and Khaleed never came home.”