Boss of struggling firm admits killing support worker colleague

A BUSINESSMAN who stabbed to death a support worker after becoming depressed has admitted manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.

Inderjit Ram, inset, whose firm offering residential support to vulnerable adults was on the brink of collapse, used a kitchen knife to kill his 63-year-old colleague Belinda

Rose during a meeting at one of his properties.

Birmingham Crown Court was told Ram, 52, handed himself in to police shortly after the killing in the Perry Barr area of the city on August 17 last year.

Judge Kristina Montgomery QC heard the victim, from Walsall, had gone to a supported living home to meet Ram where she was stabbed five times in the torso before being left on a sofa.

Explaining the Crown’s decision not to proceed with a murder charge and accept a plea to manslaughter, prosecutor Adrian Keeling QC said two psychiatric experts had said Ram was suffering from an impairment of mental function. Mr Keeling told the court Ram had received a sixmonth custodial sentence after being convicted of violent disorder while he was still at school, but had gone on to obtain a degree in chemistry.

Ram then started a business providing support for vulnerable adults but was diagnosed with depression in 2007 and had “struggled on and off ” despite help from his GP.

Mr Keeling told the court: “On any view, the business he was running was on the verge of collapse.

“Belinda Rose worked for him as a support worker and it seems that the defendant’s relationship with the deceased was both amicable and good.”

Mrs Rose, who the court heard was held in universal high-regard by those she worked with, agreed to meet Ram at a property in Pendragon Road, one of a number run by his company, to discuss apparent difficulties at the firm.

Although Ram had asked his victim to lend him money, Mr Keeling said the reason for the stabbing was not known.

Remanding Ram in custody for sentencing on a date yet to be fixed, Judge Montgomery said: “The court requires further information before the sentence that is required to be passed on you.”