Bilston murder trial told gunman's hood found
A black cloth in the shape of a hood was found at the home of an alleged masked gunman said to have shot dead an innocent bystander following a row over a laser pointer being shone into a car, a court heard.
A black cloth in the shape of a hood was found at the home of an alleged masked gunman said to have shot dead an innocent bystander following a row over a laser pointer being shone into a car, a court heard.
Police found the item at the home Sukwinder Singh Sanghera, aged 24, after he was arrested on suspicion of murdering Bilston bar owner Swinder Singh Batth last July.
Sanghera was arrested at the Wickes DIY store in Perry Barr, where he worked, shortly after the killing of Mr Batth, who was gunned down outside Gavin's Sports Bar in Bilston which he owned. Six men and a woman deny murdering 47-year-old Mr Batth, of Hughes Road in Moxley.
Two men deny intimidating a witness several weeks after last July's killing. Sanghera is alleged to have been part of a team "recruited" to get revenge after Jasbir Takhar took offence that a green laser pen was shone from a Fiat Punto near to the bar into the car he was in with his girlfriend. Takhar is said to have recruited the team before returning to the bar to hunt for the man who had shone the laser pointer.
Birmingham Crown Court was told yesterday how he and co-accused Onkar Singh Sangha argued with a man called Craig Martin on the steps of the bar, where threats were made and allegations of racial abuse.
Mr Christopher Hotten QC, prosecuting, said it was likely that Mr Martin was the intended target but that the bullet hit father-of-four Mr Batth in the chest and "a number of people ran in fear of their lives". One man had tried to attack the gunman with a knife but it shattered.
Those accused of murder and conspiracy to commit violent disorder are Gurpreet Singh Ottalan, aged 22, of Western Drive, Bilston; Onkar Singh Sangha, 22 of Babors Field, Bilston;
Narinder Kumar, 26, of Slade Close, West Bromwich; Neesha Dubb, 20, of Western Drive, Bilston; Jarnail Singh Bajwa, 25, of Bickley Road, Bilston; and Sukwinder Singh Sanghera, 24, of Albion Road, West Bromwich.
Jasbir Singh Takhar, 23, of Birmingham New Road, Coseley, is charged with murder. Takhar has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit violent disorder, the jury was told. Accused of witness intimidation are Amardeep Narwal, 25, Sedgley Grove, Birmingham, and Shiv Dubb, 18, of Western Drive. The trial, which is expected to take eight weeks, continues.
