Man in court over double killing

Sukhdev Singh admits killing the men but denies murder

A man killed two men in a flat above a Shropshire chip shop because they had sexually assaulted and bullied him, a court heard.

Sukhdev Singh admits killing Jaswant Singh Bajwa, 30, and Kulwant Singh Dodar, 31, but denies murder.

Their bodies were found above Mike's Fish Bar, in Shawbury, last December.

Mr Singh, 26, of Drayton Road, Shawbury, told police he "lost his temper" and hit both men with a hammer, Stafford Crown Court heard.

The court heard Mr Singh, who is originally from India, and the men he is accused of murdering, were all illegal immigrants.

'Stripped him'

Mr Singh told police he had been living in the flat and working in the chip shop since arriving in Shawbury in about 2004.

But he said Mr Bajwa and Mr Dodar had bullied him and on two occasions had forcefully stripped him and touched his private parts.

The bodies were found in the stairway leading to the flat above the chip shop

Jurors heard that Mr Bajwa suffered five blows to the head while Mr Dodar had been hit at least 10 times.

Mr Singh told police he had picked up the hammer from the bedroom floor and hit Mr Bajwa first and then Mr Dodar, who had intervened to protect his friend.

Stephen Linehan QC, prosecuting, said as well as being hit with a hammer, the pair had also been strangled before their clothes were changed.

They were then dragged downstairs to create the impression they had been killed outside or as they came into the flat.

Mr Linehan said the men's bodies were found by the owners of the three-bedroom flat who had gone to investigate after receiving an "agitated" phone call from Mr Singh.

He was arrested four days later, on 11 December, by police who found him in a Sikh temple in Smethwick.

'Plain murder'

Mr Linehan told the jury it would have taken Mr Singh "hours with bleach and water" to clean the scene of the killing.

He added: "What they (police) found was that the defendant tried and tried very hard to clean up all the blood that had flowed as a result of his attack.

"So heavily had they bled that it had seeped through the carpets."

Mr Linehan added: "In his defence the defendant will say, 'I lost my temper because of the behaviour of these men - they provoked me into doing what I did'.

He added: "Right to the end he never ever told the truth about how he killed the men.

"The prosecution say that is because the truth would show that this was just plain murder."

The case continues.

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Sukhdev Singh denies the charges