Police officers commended for murder investigation work

Nine Northamptonshire Police officers have been commended by His Honour Judge Herbert KC for their work on Operation Foam - the investigation into the murder of Kwabena Osei-Poku, previously known as Alfred, in April 2023.

Kwabena was stabbed by Melvin Lebaga-Idubor on the evening of Sunday, April 23, last year, following an altercation which started on campus.

Sadly, and despite the best efforts of police, members of the public and paramedics, he died at the scene.

Following a six-week trial at Northampton Crown Court which ended in November last year, Lebaga-Idubor was found guilty of both charges and sentenced to life in prison with a minimum of 21 years.

Judge Herbert was the presiding judge for the trial and last week (August 1), formally commended the investigation team for their work on the case.

As part of his commendation, he commented on the complex nature of the investigation and how well it had been presented to the court, recognising the long hours and expertise that went into diligently and expeditiously investigating and then presenting the evidence as part of a successful prosecution. 

The following police officers and police staff members were commended:

Detective Inspector Simon Barnes – Senior Investigating Officer

Detective Sergeant Matt Bly – Deputy Senior Investigating Officer

Detective Constable Mark Allbright – Officer in the Case

Detective Constable Lee Chennell – Family Liaison Officer

Police Sergeant Lorna Clarke – University Policing Team

Jeff Winfield – Receiver

Hannah White – Analyst

Detective Constable Simon Chamberlain – Digital Media Investigator

Linda Gibb – Digital Field Extraction Technician

Detective Chief Superintendent Rich Tompkins said: “The work that went into this investigation was tireless, diligent, caring and extremely complex, so I am really pleased to see the team formally commended by His Honour Judge Herbert KC.

“Though no sentence could ever make up for the loss of Kwabena, we were able to get justice for him and his family, and that’s down to this fantastic team of police officers and police staff.”