The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Man jailed for life for murder of waiter in 1998
Ronnie Coulter found guilty after retrial of stabbing Surjit Singh Chhokar
A man has been jailed for life for the “despicable and cowardly” murder of waiter Surjit Singh Chhokar in a retrial under double jeopardy laws.
Ronnie Coulter was found guilty at the High Court in Glasgow earlier this month of stabbing the 32-year-old almost 18 years ago.
The attack happened as Mr Chhokar returned from his work at an Indian restaurant in Wishaw, North Lanarkshire, on November 4 1998.
Coulter, 48, was previously acquitted when he stood trial in 1999 for the murder but was convicted by a majority when the case became only the second to return to court since Scotland’s centuries-old double jeopardy law was reformed in 2011.
He was sentenced to life at the same court yesterday, with a minimum term of 19 years and eight months.
Judge Lord Matthews said the minimum sentence would have been 20 years but he took off four months for the time Coulter spent in custody before the first trial in 1999.
The latest trial had heard Coulter, his nephew Andrew and David Montgomery went to see Mr Chhokar on the night following a row over a stolen Giro cheque.
After an altercation, Mr Chhokar collapsed in front of his partner, Liz Bryce.
Coulter had denied the charges and blamed Andrew Coulter and Mr Montgomery for the murder.
Giving evidence at the latest trial, Andrew Coulter and Mr Montgomery admitted being present at the scene but denied murder.
Lord Matthews said Mr Chhokar was the “victim of an ambush which cost him his life”.
Passing sentence, he said: “It is plain that your only purpose was violence and you must have had a knife to hand.”
The judge praised the patience and “quiet dignity” of the Chhokar family, and particularly the victim’s father who passed away in November 2015.