Man gets life sentence for London alleyway murder
A 21-YEAR-OLD man who pleaded guilty during a murder trial of an Asian man found dead in an alleyway in west London last year was sentenced to life imprisonment last week.
Manpreet Singh admitted murdering 37-year-old Baljit Singh (right) at Isleworth Crown Court last Tuesday (4) and was sentenced last Wednesday (5), the Metropolitan Police said.
Baljit Singh, who lived
in
Hayes, west London, was pronounced dead at the scene after the Met Police and London Ambulance Service were called to Station Road on April 25, 2020. Officers from the Met Police’s Specialist Crime Command (Homicide) opened the murder investigation soon after.
The court heard how Singh had only met Baljit in the weeks prior to the attack, after travelling down from Birmingham to London
with a mutual acquaintance in seek of work. The pair had briefly lived together but had fallen out just prior to the attack.
Manpreet Singh snapped in anger and took advantage of the circumstances to carry out this horribly violent attack.
A post-mortem examination found Baljit had suffered 20 injuries, including broken bones in his neck, sternum and ribs, along with bruises and lacerations.
Manpreet Singh was arrested and initially denied being with Baljit at the time of the murder. However, after being shown CCTV footage of the pair he changed his story, admitting he had been with him but continued to deny the attack. This changed with his guilty plea in the case last week.
“Baljit Singh suffered a brutal and sustained assault at the hands of Manpreet Singh – an assault which cost him his life,” said
Detective Inspector Adam Guttridge from the Met Police’s Specialist Crime Command (Homicide). “From what we know, Baljit would not have been in a position to defend himself given his slight frame and the amount of alcohol he had consumed that evening.
“Manpreet’s problems with drink and his lifestyle may have played a part, but they offer no excuse for taking another man’s life in such a vicious way,” he said.