British student Danny Castledine stabbed to death in Amsterdam, inquest hears

A British student was stabbed to death during a trip to Amsterdam before he was dragged and left at the bottom of steps, an inquest has heard.

Danny Castledine, 22, sustained 44 wounds near the Singel canal in the Dutch capital in June 2022, when he was with a friend on the way to a music festival in Belgium.

At Nottingham Coroner’s Court on Tuesday, assistant coroner Nathanael Hartley concluded he was unlawfully killed, with the cause of death recorded as “multiple stab wounds”.

Mr Castledine’s sister Chloe, who was at the inquest with their parents, described her brother as “happy-go-lucky” and said he just wanted to “enjoy his life”.

“It’s a shame his life ended in the way it did in a foreign country because he loved to travel,” she told the inquest.

“All he wanted to do was go out and have a good time. Everyone loved him, no one had a bad word to say about him.

“He trusted everyone and assumed everyone was out for a good time like he was.”

The court heard in January a Belgian national, referred to as Nongo B, was found guilty of manslaughter in a Dutch court and jailed for 14 years.

Detective Constable Gina Farrell of Nottinghamshire Police told the hearing she was told Mr Castledine became “separated” from his friend “after 1am”.

“Danny walked around the city centre thereafter and he appeared to have met the person we call the defendant between 1.40am and 2.12am,” she added.

“Danny walked with the defendant into where there appears to be a clash between Danny and the defendant.

“It is believed this is where he carried out the attack before he dragged him down the stairs to the basement flat.

“One of the hypotheses that came up is that the defendant attempted to rob Danny, but there was no evidence to substantiate that.”

Mr Hartley said Mr Castledine suffered “severe blood loss” with a stab wound to his neck, adding other stab wounds “may have contributed to death through blood loss”.

Ms Farrell said a man was found with blood on his clothing matching Mr Castledine’s and told the hearing a retrial of the defendant may happen.

Mr Castledine’s mum previously said: “When Danny was alive, it frustrated me that he was so laid back but now I just think, I’m so glad he lived that life because he loved every minute of it.

“It was almost like he knew he had to pack everything into 22 years.”