Pair get life for murder of Bilston bar owner

Two men were today jailed for life for the gun murder of an innocent Bilston bar owner following a trivial row over a laser pen.

Hooded Sukwinder Sanghera fired the fatal shot into the chest of father-of-four Swinder Singh Batth after being recruited to take revenge on the gang which shone the beam into a friend's car.

Sanghera, aged 24, of West Bromwich, and accomplice Jasbir Takhar, 23, were convicted of murder yesterday afternoon following an eight-week trial.

Mr Justice Jack today ordered gunman Sanghera to serve a minimum of 28 years behind bars and ringleader Takhar at least 29 years.

Five other men and a woman who went to Gavin's Sports Bar in Bilston, which 47-year-old Mr Batth ran, were found guilty of conspiracy to commit violent disorder.

Two other men were found guilty of intimidating a witness. The seven were given jail terms ranging from 195 days to three-and-a-half years.

Birmingham Crown Court heard how a Seat people carrier and a Renault Clio carrying nine men and a woman pulled up outside the Hall Street bar at around midnight on July 28 last year.

Takhar and defendant Onkar Singh Sangha argued with a man called Craig Martin on the steps of the bar.

Jurors heard he was the likely target of Sanghera, who got out of the Seat and fired the shot. Sanghera had been recruited by Takhar to "find and execute" the man who had shone the pen at his girlfriend Neesha Dubb, who was convicted of violent disorder.

Mr Batth lived in Hughes Road, Moxley.

By Crime Correspondent Mike Woods