Particle.news
Download on the App Store

Judge Sets Trial Timeline in Killing of Uchenna Okirie at Norwich’s Somerleyton House

A Norwich judge listed a January 30 plea hearing, with a five- to seven-day trial provisionally set for May 18.

Overview

  • Benjamin Katabana, 27, has been charged with murder and appeared at Norwich Crown Court via videolink, where he was remanded in custody.
  • Police were called to Somerleyton House at 5:22am on November 22 and a murder investigation began after Mr Okirie died from a single stab wound to the chest.
  • Mr Okirie, a Nigerian national in his 30s known as Uche, was reported as a former postgraduate at the University of East Anglia’s School of International Development.
  • Norfolk Police said the incident is believed to be isolated and posed no wider risk to the local community.
  • A forensic cordon displaced residents from the mixed student and professional accommodation, and UEA contacted a handful of its students living there to offer support.