A man describing himself as “Psycho Stapleton” appeared in a British court on Monday accused of shooting dead an Indian student in northwest England. Kiaran Stapleton, 20, was remanded in custody for 24 hours at an initial court appearance in Manchester, where he was formally charged with the murder of Anuj Bidve in the Salford area of the city. Stapleton was led into the courtroom in handcuffs wearing a grey T-shirt and grey tracksuit trousers, with four armed officers standing guard in the room. When asked for his name, he replied: “Psycho. Psycho Stapleton.” Prosecutor Ben Southam said the case would be sent to a higher court. A scrum of journalists surrounded the prison van carrying Stapleton when it arrived at the court, which was packed with reporters.
A lone gunman shot Bidve, 23, in the head after approaching him at around 1:30 am (0130 GMT) on December 26 as he walked with a group of friends towards Manchester city centre. The student, from the western Indian city of Pune, died a short time later in hospital. The friends were in Stapleton’s home neighbourhood of Ordsall when the shooting occurred. Police have described the murder of Bidve, who arrived in England in September to study micro-electronics at Lancaster University, as “extremely, unusual, savage and motiveless.”
