Fatal shooting bar to be sold at auction

A bar where an innocent landlord was shot dead is to be sold at auction.

Gavin's Sports Bar in Bilston has been closed since the fatal shooting of Swinder Singh Batth following a trivial row over a laser pen almost two years ago.

It is now to be sold at auction with a guide price of £225,000 and community leaders in the town hope that the Hall Street venue can be transformed into a positive attraction.

Bilston councillor Susan Constable said she wanted to see new owners turn the building into a business that would help to attract investment and people to the area.

"It used to be a hotel many years ago," she said. "It is right on the Metro line, and I think it could be put to good use as a restaurant or a hotel. That would be better than a pub. Pubs seem to have fallen out of favour and attract the sort of things we are trying to dissuade."

Mr Batth, who was from Moxley and ran the pub with his son Gavin, was shot dead by Sukwinder Sanghera on July 28, 2009. Sanghera had been recruited by Jasbir Takhar to take revenge on whoever had shone the laser beam at his girlfriend.

During a trial at Birmingham Crown Court, jurors were told that two vehicles carrying nine men and a woman pulled up outside the bar at about midnight on the night of the fatal shooting. Takhar and another defendant argued with a man called Craig Martin on the steps of the bar. Jurors heard that he was the likely target of Sanghera, who got out of one of the cars and fired the shot, which hit Mr Batth in the chest.

Sanghera, aged 24, of West Bromwich, and accomplice Takhar, 23, are serving life for the murder. Five other men and a woman were found guilty of conspiracy to commit violent disorder. Two other men were found guilty of intimidating a witness. They were given jail terms ranging from 195 days to three-and-a-half years.

The Grade II listed building is being sold by Cottons Chartered Surveyors. Interested parties should call 0121 247 2233.