Revenge and murder on the streets of Southall
A GANG who used swords, hammers and baseball bats to attack a rival on a Southall street have been jailed for total of 104 years.
The gang of five each had a role to play in the death of Sukhjinder Singh, also known as Gurinder Singh, who was viciously attacked on Spikes Bridge Road over a long- running feud between within the Sikh community.
Gurinder had a longstanding feud with Kuldeep Dhillon, 26 of North Road, Hayes, dating back to 2013. Dhillon grew angered when he found out Gurinder had been boasting about having assaulted him at a Sikh religious festival in Birmingham, the court heard.
Referring to the lengthy sentences handed out, Judge Christopher Moss QC said: “The nature of weapons used and ferocity of the attack, it is obvious you intended to kill”.
As revenge, Dhillon and four others set out to attack Gurinder, 33, on July 30, 2016 with an astonishing array of weapons which included long swords, knives, a hammer and baseball bats.
The group drove up to Gurinder and ambushed him, chased him and beat him up before stabbing him multiple times. Gurinder was found with stab wounds and an ambulance was called which rushed him to hospital where he died the following morning.
Metropolitan Police, who are still hunting for more people believed to have taken part in the attack, said the five attackers had taken “revenge” after a bitter feud.
A post-mortem examination was held at Uxbridge Mortuary on August 1, 2016, which gave the cause of death as multiple stab wounds. Three days later police made their first breakthrough in the case, when they raided a storage facility in Uxbridge Road, Hayes. After obtaining a warrant to enter, they found weapons including swords, a machete, a baseball bat and a crowbar, many of which were covered in blood. They also found blood-stained clothing.
A balaclava found at the storage facility had the DNA of Amandeep Sandhu, 31, of Townsend Road, Southall. He was jailed on Friday, June 22 for 26 and a half years’ for murder as well as a further five years to be served for assisting an offender.
Police identified Vishal Soba, 32, of Eight Avenue, Hayes as the man with access to the lock-up and as the driver of a Volkswagen Golf which entered the depot two days after the murder. He was seen on CCTV entering with a bag on his shoulder.
A telephone linked to Soba was found to be in touch with Sandhu’s rivals phone on the evening of the murder, the Old Bailey heard. On August 4, 2016, both men were arrested on suspicion of murder.
Vishal was later convicted of manslaughter and also jailed on Friday, June 22 to 16 years imprisonment and a further five years for assisting an offender.
Police then found Vishal had also been in contact with Palwinder Multani, 37, of Tudor Road, Hayes. Multani was arrested in October 2016 and admitted his involvement in a police interview.
Later becoming the star witness, he told officers that Gurinder had upset a number of people and that he had been hired to drive the attackers to where Gurinder was stabbed. He was paid £300.
The following day Multani was charged with murder, but pleaded guilty to manslaughter. He also admitted assisting an offender and was jailed for five years and nine months on Thursday, February 21. The next man to be arrested was Ravinder Singh-Shergill, of Colville Close, Tipton, in the West Midlands. He was found guilty of murder by the jury and jailed for 26 years and nine months.
Information provided by Multani helped charge Vishal Soba, who was out on police bail, and Kuldeep Dhillon with murder, in September 2017. Dhillon had approached a witness and told him not to participate in the upcoming murder trial just a month earlier and was also charged with witness intimidation. He was eventually sentenced to 16 years imprisonment for manslaughter and a further three years for witness intimidation.
Detective Inspector James Stevenson, of the Homicide and Major Crime Command, said: “I hope these sentences bring some comfort to Gurinder’s family and friends, following his untimely death. These men used an appalling level of violence to execute their revenge on Gurinder, following a bitter feud. The attack was meticulously planned; right down to the time, location and the disposal of the weapons.
“While we now have five men behind bars, there are still more individuals we would like to speak to in regards to this killing, and I would like to reiterate my appeal for anyone with information to come forward.”