Call for police to learn from stabbing communication

An MP said delays in police communications over a fatal stabbing in Leicester led to "unhelpful" speculation.

Leicestershire Police confirmed at 11:29 GMT on Wednesday an 18-year-old man had been arrested on suspicion of murder after emergency services were called just after 17:00 on Tuesday to reports a man had collapsed in Oxford Street, near De Montfort University (DMU).

A man, now named as 20-year-old Khaleed Oladipo, was taken to Leicester Royal Infirmary but died a short time later, the force said.

A spokesperson for the force said it understood "significant concern" caused by the stabbing, and said information was published once "all necessary processes" had been undertaken.

Shockat Adam, independent MP for Leicester South, said his social media was "on fire" after the incident, and said "frequent messaging" would have helped ease concerns.

The force released a road closure alert over an "incident" on Tuesday, but the reason was not issued until about 11:30 on Wednesday.

The force said on X on Wednesday that "speculation is unhelpful", but confirmed it was not a triple stabbing.

Adam said the police had to "get the facts right", and that he understood it was a "fluid situation", adding that informing the family of Oladipo and tracing a suspect were its priorities.

But he added: "My social media was on fire and it always is on fire when there's an incident of this nature, because people like to speculate, people like to cause so much friction and trouble and politicise these incidents that it becomes a real issue.

"But a further layer and element of this was that there are parents who possibly couldn't get in touch with their children, only hearing that there has been somebody that's been killed and that caused a lot of stress."

Adam said there were "learnings" for the force that communication "may have been expedited".

"When this vacuum is there, it is filled and unfortunately it is not always filled with right and truthful messages," he added.

Phil King, a Conservative county councillor, said on social media on Wednesday morning that there was an "information vacuum".

He added later on X: "Obviously this is a very tragic situation, my thoughts are with family and friends and this will be deeply concerning to all residents, but why did this take Leicestershire Police approximately 18 hours to release any public information?"

King said he had written to the police and crime commissioner to raise the issue of the delay with the chief constable.

He added he appreciated police had to notify people and called on anyone with information to contact the force.

A spokesperson for Leicestershire Police said: "The force understands that this incident has caused significant concern to those living in the surrounding area and the wider community.

"Following the report being received, emergency services were deployed and a scene preservation was put in place to secure any evidence and allow the investigation to begin.

"Notification of the road closures were publicised on the force's social media channels.

"During this period, inquiries were also undertaken to locate the deceased's next of kin and allow time for specially-trained officers to notify them of what had happened. This is in line with the force's victim-first approach to such incidents.

"Information about the incident was publicised to the force's website and social media channels once all necessary processes had been undertaken."

On Thursday, a statement from Oladipo's family described the second-year cyber-security student as "a good boy who loved his family".

They thanked the people who stopped to try and help him and ambulance and hospital staff "who did all they could to try and save him".

"We are also really grateful to the police for their efforts in the investigation so far to ensure the person responsible is brought to justice. We are struggling to understand why anyone would do this," they added.

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