Convicted killer denies Chhokar murder

ONE of the men blamed for the 1998 murder of Surjit Singh Chhokar yesterday admitted hitting the victim but told a jury: ‘I never stabbed him.’

Convicted killer Andrew Coulter admitted he had made a threat and armed himself with a home-made bat the night the waiter was stabbed to death.

But the 35-year-old denied taking a knife with him when he went with his uncle and another man to meet Mr Chhokar in a row over a stolen Giro cheque.

Andrew Coulter was giving evidence at the trial of his 48-year-old uncle Ronnie Coulter who denies murdering Mr Chhokar in Overtown, Lanarkshire, on November 4, 1998, by stabbing him. The accused has lodged a special defence blaming Andrew Coulter and David Montgomery.

Andrew Coulter was asked by prosecutor Alex Prentice: ‘Did you stab Chhokar?’ He replied: ‘No. I hit him with a bat. I never stabbed him.’ The QC asked: ‘Did you see anyone stab Chhokar?’ He replied: ‘No, and I never even saw anyone hit him, bar me.’

He told the High Court in Glasgow that he, Ronnie Coulter and Montgomery – known as Chez – arrived at the house to meet Mr Chhokar, 32, in Garrion Street, Overtown, around 11.30pm on November 4, 1998.

He admitted that he had stolen a giro cheque from Mr Chhokar’s flat in Wishaw that morning and said he told the waiter’s partner Elizabeth Bryce that ‘Chhokar was getting it’. When asked by Mr Prentice what he meant, he replied: ‘A battering.’

Andrew Coulter, who was sentenced to six years for culpable homicide in a separate case in 1999, told the court how the trio waited for Mr Chhokar in the garden of the Overtown property. He said that after the waiter arrived he ‘struck him with the bat on his arm’ but then fell, meaning his view was impeded by a garden gate. He added: ‘David went to pick me up and I did not see where Ronnie was.’

Mr Prentice asked how Mr Chhokar appeared. The witness said: ‘He looked all right. He didn’t seem to be injured... Liz Bryce came out shouting, and me and Chez ran.’ When asked what he thought had happened that night, he said: ‘Nothing. That was it. Just assault.’

Andrew Coulter and David Montgomery were tried and acquitted of the murder in 2000. Ronnie Coulter denies the murder.

The trial, before judge Lord Matthews, continues.