Seven remanded on landlord killing
Seven people who appeared in court charged with the murder of a Bilston man shot dead outside his pub have been remanded in custody.
Seven people who appeared in court charged with the murder of a Bilston man shot dead outside his pub have been remanded in custody.
The group of seven appeared at Wolverhampton Magistrates Court on Saturday, and are jointly-charged with the murder of Swinder Singh Batth, who was gunned down outside Gavin's Sports Bar in Bilston just after midnight last Tuesday.
Gurpreet Singh Ottalan, aged 21, of Western Drive, Bilston, Onkar Singh Sangha, 21, of Babors Field, Bilston, Narinder Kumar, of Slade Close, West Bromwich, Jasbir Singh Takhar, 22, of Birmingham New Road, Coseley, Neesha Dubb, 19, of Western Drive, Bilston, and Jarnal Singh Bajwa, of Bickley Road, Bilston, were all remanded in custody. Sukwinder Singh Sanghera, aged 23, of Albion Road, West Bromwich, was also held in custody.
The court room was packed with more than 50 family and friends from the group, who filled almost the entire hall for the proceedings. All seven will appear at Wolverhampton Crown Court for a plea and directions hearing on October 26.
An eighth person, aged 17, will also appear at Wolverhampton Magistrates Court today charged with murder.
It has also emerged that father-of-four Mr Batth, who was aged 47 and ran the bar with son Gavin, was a world class Kabaddi player and former professional wrestler. Kabaddi is a sport where participants aim to wrestle each other to the ground, and is staged in the UK by Indian promoters.
On the Kabaddi.org forum, a poster said: "He was one of the best stoppers in England over the years. He went toe-to-toe with much heavier men and was a big crowd favourite."
His nickname during Kabaddi bouts was Shina Batth. A banner has now been placed across the website's message board saying "RIP legend of UK Kabaddi" to pay tribute to him.
The first message posted on the topic says: "With very sad news that we have deep regret in reporting that UK Kabaddi Legend Shinda Amli was shot dead outside his bar in Wolverhampton. Our thoughts are with his family."
Another fan wrote: "What a tragedy. Great player of the game, but more so, he was well known for being one of the truly great characters.
And one more wrote: "RIP. He was a real character who will be a big loss for all the Kabaddi world."
Mr Batth, a well known businessman in Bilston, who lived with his family in Moxley, died in his son Gavin's arms following the shooting.
Family members have told how the 18 year-old had cradled his dying father as he waited for police and ambulance crews to arrive at the scene.
Police say Mr Batth was hit with a bullet in the chest.
