A man charged with the murder of a renowned chef during the Notting Hill Carnival has asserted that his actions were driven by fear and self-defense.
Omar Wilson, a 31-year-old charity worker, engaged in a violent altercation with Mussie Imnetu, 41, involving punches and kicks that left him unconscious outside a Queensway restaurant in west London on the night of August 26 last year, as presented to the Old Bailey.
Mr. Imnetu was subsequently hospitalized with brain injuries and succumbed to his injuries four days later.
During his testimony at the Old Bailey, Mr. Wilson expressed his sorrow, stating, “I just regret that someone lost their life while I was trying to protect mine.”
The court heard that Mr. Imnetu, who had previously worked with renowned chefs Gordon Ramsay and Marcus Wareing, was reportedly “heavily intoxicated” during the incident.
Mr. Wilson reportedly headbutted Mr. Imnetu before delivering repeated punches about a minute later, which caused the chef to collapse, leading to further assault on the ground.
In his police statement, Mr. Wilson alleged that he had witnessed Mr. Imnetu bothering women and had requested him to step away, after which the chef reportedly became “aggressive.”
While testifying on Monday, Mr. Wilson claimed that he struck Mr. Imnetu out of a sense of being “trapped” and “scared,” believing the chef was wielding a broken bottle that could cause him harm.
He acknowledged feeling deep remorse: “I just regret that a life was lost while I was attempting to defend my own. I never foresaw that this would weigh on my conscience, and now everything has changed. What troubles me most is that the police were so near, yet I was unaware at the time.”
“I thought he was going to attack me,” he expressed during police questioning.
The court observed that he became emotional during the interview, communicating that the officers couldn’t comprehend what it felt like to be in “this situation.”
“To be honest, I’ve faced numerous situations,” he remarked. “I consider myself a good judge of character, and it felt like he was definitely targeting me.”
“I’ve witnessed people die in similar circumstances, so instinctively, I shifted into a fight-or-flight mode.”
Mr. Wilson denied any intention of causing serious harm to Mr. Imnetu, stating he only aimed to neutralize the threat.
During cross-examination, he consistently refuted claims of acting out of rage, asserting that had he known at the time that Mr. Imnetu was unarmed, he would not have responded as he did.
Reflecting on the CCTV footage after the incident, he stated, “I viewed the video and realized he didn’t have the bottle. It was merely in my mind, which made my reaction seem excessive.”
Mr. Wilson, hailing from Leytonstone in east London, is pleading not guilty to murder and claims he did not intend to inflict serious injury.
The trial is ongoing.
