LONDON -Three men including two from Oldbury who cruelly humiliated and beat to death a friend who suffered 155 different injuries in a horrifying four day ordeal have each been jailed for 13 years.
Judge John Warner told them, “Torture may be a slightly exaggerated way to describe what you did to him but it is not far from being accurate.”
He added, “One can only assume it provided you with some kind of perverted entertainment or satisfaction to have treated him in this way.”
Father of three Balbir Singh was abused and attacked on a number of occasions at his home in Baldwin Close, Brades Village and he died “as the result of a sustained course of violence.”
The Judge said 54 year old Mr Singh was repeatedly punched and slapped and hit with a stick and his injuries included fractured ribs and a broken finger.
He said Mr Singh, a Sikh, had his beard shaved off, his turban was removed, his hair was cut and he had “some kind of dye” applied to his face.
The three men – Inderjit Dhesi, Paramjit Singh and Paramjit Johal – were also Sikh’s, said the Judge, and they must have been aware of the way he suffered with the humiliation.
Johal 51, also of Baldwin Close: Dhesi 31 of Brades Road, Oldbury and 46 year old Paramjit Singh of Gravesend, Kent were all found guilty of manslaughter which they had denied at the end of their trial.
Mr Peter Grieves-Smith prosecuting had told the court that all four men had been drinking heavily and Balbir Singh had been beaten to death by people he considered to be his friends.
His body was discovered after Johal telephoned the emergency services to inform them a man who was drunk had called at the house and then collapsed and died.
But, said Mr Grieves-Smith at Wolverhampton Crown Court, Mr Singh died in what was a brutal and cowardly attack in which he was also stripped naked and his photograph was taken by the men.
The Judge said it was impossible to say just what had been done by each of the three men but it was a joint enterprise and it had been fueled by drink.
They had shown a “bullying” mentality adding, “The more you did the more vulnerable and compliant he must have been. Each of you could have stopped what you were doing at the time but you chose not to do so. You were all in this together.”
Counsel for the three defendants who showed no reaction as they were jailed maintained it had never been there intention to cause serious injury to Balbir Singh “let alone for him to die.”
After the sentencing investigating officer Det.Sgt Mike Griffiths said, “This was an appalling and deeply distressing case. Mr Singh was so badly beaten he ultimately lost his life.
“People he trusted as friends abused that trust and they degraded him in a sickening and cruel fashion. What lead to the violence has never been established.”
The officer concluded, “Not one of the defendants accepted causing any of the injuries and they all sought to blame each other for what happened.”
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