Kissing killers of businessman Richard Sherratt caught on cctv
Dramatic CCTV footage has been released showing callous killers Emma Bate and Paramjit Singh hugging and kissing – just over an hour after their brutal attack on Stourbridge businessman Richard Sherratt.
The sickening shots show the couple together in a lift at Bate's block of flats in Birmingham, having attacked and robbed Mr Sherratt of his wallet, watch and jeans before leaving him for dead with 38 injuries.
Footage from police also shows prostitute Bate, 26, waving her hands in the air in an apparent victory salute after using one of the former Stourbridge man's bank cards at a cashpoint next to Handsworth Post Office 20 minutes before they returned home.
The footage was released following the end of the trial at Stafford Crown Court, which saw Bate convicted of murder yesterday. Judge Tonking told Bate, of Gladstone Street, that, when she and 33-year-old Singh appeared before him again on March 1, he was "bound" to be sentencing them to life imprisonment.
Bate denied murder but admitted robbing and defrauding property developer Mr Sherratt at his Bridgnorth flat on June 14 last year. Mr Sherratt, a property developer, had moved from Brook Street, Stourbridge two months before the incident. Singh, of Willmore Road, Birmingham, had already admitted murder, robbery and fraud before the trial.
Michael Smith, aged 51, of Horton Street, Tipton, who drove the pair to Mr Sherratt's flat in Old School Mews, was cleared of robbery, a charge he had denied. He told the jury he knew nothing of the plan to rob the businessman. During the trial, it emerged that Bate first starting meeting Mr Sherratt in March last year after he contacted her through an adult agency website.
He became "infatuated" with her and gave her almost £8,000 over a two-month period. But after she took cash from his bank card, he cut all ties with her. A month later, Bate, hassled by her drug dealer for debts, organised the robbery of Mr Sherratt at his home with Singh.
She hired Smith for £100 to take them to his property. On the day after the murder, Bate and Singh went on a shopping spree, spending almost £1,000 on iPads and a mobile phone. They then sold the items for cash to pay for more drugs. Det Insp Steve Tonks, of West Mercia Police, said: "The defendants Singh and Bate resorted to violence in seeking access to their victim's money.
"Both admitted being heavy users of crack-cocaine and that they needed money to fund their lifestyle and pay off debts owed to drug dealers. I hope today's verdicts will bring a degree of closure for Mr Sherratt's family and friends."
