Son tells of phone call after Bilston killing

A teenager who saw his father gunned down outside the Wolverhampton bar they ran together has told how he frantically phoned a friend after the killing and said: "You've killed my dad."

Gavin Batth, aged 19, told Birmingham Crown Court he was "shouting and screaming" when he spoke to Jas Takhar, who is one of seven people accused of murder.

Prosecutors say 47-year-old Swinder Singh Batth was an innocent bystander who was shot dead by a hooded gunman who was part of a "team" wanting revenge for incident earlier in the evening when a laser pen had been shone into the car of murder accused Neesha Dubb.

Mr Batth, of Moxley, was shot dead outside Gavin's Bar in Hall Street Bilston at around midnight on July 28 last year. The court heard his son was in the back of a police car following an ambulance as it took his father to hospital when he spoke to Takhar, who he had known for about nine years and who had been a "very good friend", and another man, Onkar Singh Sangha, on the phone.

Gavin Batth told the court yesterday: "I could just tell he was dead, the way his eyes were open."

In police interviews read to the trial yesterday, Gavin told police: "I phoned Onkar and said you've killed my dad. I spoke to Jas Takhar and said you've killed my dad."

Giving evidence yesterday, Mr Batth said: "I was shouting and swearing at Onkar".

"Jas was saying, 'It wasn't me. You know I care about your dad'." The court heard when he spoke to another of the accused, Gurpreet Ottalan, he said: "They've killed my dad."

Ottalan was "screaming and crying" and said: "It wasn't me, I would never do that," Mr Batth told the court.

Those who are charged with 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.

The jury heard that Takhar has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit violent disorder. Amardeep Narwal, 25, Sedgley Grove, Birmingham, and Shiv Dubb, 18, of Western Drive, deny witness intimidation.

The trial continues.