Pair convicted of Gagandip Singh car fire killing

 
10 April 2012
WEST END FINAL

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A medical student was cleared at the Old Bailey today of ordering a young businessman to be burned alive in the boot of his own Mercedes.

Mundil Mahil was accused of luring Gagandip Singh, 21, to his death by playing on his unrequited love for her.

When he entered her Brighton flat he was beaten up by two thugs who drove his car to Blackheath where they set it alight with him still unconscious inside.

Mahil was found not guilty of murder by a jury after 40 hours deliberations but she was convicted of causing grievous bodily harm with intent.

Her two "gangster friends" were also convicted. Harvinder Shoker was found guilty of murder and Darren Peters was cleared of murder but convicted of GBH.

Mr Singh, from Bexleyheath, had owned the satellite channel Sikh TV, and was the president of the British and Sikh Student Federation.

But he was so bessoted with Mahil that he had tried to have sex with her in her flat which distressed and angered her.

In revenge the student, described as "an intelligent and attractive young woman", called in her Shoker and Peters.

She insisted she had only intended that Mr Singh be given a "few slaps" but Mr Singh was beaten unconscious in a violent struggle even though he was a black belt in Tae Kwan Do.

Shoker, of Greenwich, Peters, of Blackheath, Mahil, of Chatham, all 20, will be sentenced next week by Judge Paul Worsley. During the trial the court heard that British-born Mahil was a devout Sikh who had volunteered for a series of good causes and had been preparing to run a half-marathon for charity.

Putting on a green headscarf as she entered the witness box, she told jurors she had begun studying medicine in order to work overseas for Médecins Sans Frontières.

She said she had met fellow sikh Mr Singh on Facebook and spent months consoling him after his father was shot dead while on a trip to India in 2009.

But six months before he was killed in February 2010 Mr Singh, who had been showering Mundil with offers of gifts, had stayed the night at the house she shared with fellow students.

That night he tried to get into her bed and have sex which she forcibly rejected. She reacted "as you would expect any young woman to react by being extremely upset and angry at what she, with some justification, perceived as a great betrayal of trust," said prosecutor Aftab Jafferjee QC.

"She told her housemates that on occasions following the 'attempted rape', certain of her male friends - sometimes referred to as 'gangster friends' - wished to exact revenge and retribution on Singh," he said.

"However far from discouraging anyone, she lured him to Brighton suggesting a meeting at her home at 11pm."

Singh was both excited at the prospect but also wary but she reassured him. He was attacked and beaten unconscious then wrapped up in Mahil's duvet and carried by Ravi and Peters to the boot of the Mercedes.

The car was taken to a quiet area of Blackheath. Petrol was poured over it and onto him in the boot.

"It is scientifically clear beyond any doubt that at this point he was still alive. The car was then set alight with him locked in the boot," said Mr Jafferjee.

Peters, who worked as a bicycle repairer at Howlett's zoo in Canterbury, claimed he was forced into taking part by threats to himself and his family.

He said he had been in the car which drove to Blackheath where Shoker set it on light but claimed he had no idea that Mr Singh's body was in the boot.

He is said to have compared the scene to the action film The Transporter. He admitted taking Mr Singh's bank card and obtained his PIN number.

Shoker, a trainee electrician and insulin-dependent diabetic, told the jury he had been "confused" on the night of the killing because he had not taken his medication.

He admitted hitting Mr Singh but blamed the violence on Peters. He said there had been no murder plot which he described as "pretty stupid."

But he revealed his inner aggression when he left the witness box at an adjournment in the middle of giving evidence and threatened a junior prosecution barrister whom he claimed was giving him "funny looks."

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