Black Country man who murdered mother and step-father sentenced to life in prison
A man who murdered his mother and step-father has been sentenced to life behind bars.
Anmol Chana, aged 26, was this morning sentenced to a minimum of 36 years in prison after the brutal killings of Jasbir Kaur, 52, and Rupinder Singh Bassan, 51, at their home in Moat Road, Oldbury.
Chana, of Hamilton Road in Smethwick, had stabbed them to death in a frenzied knife attack at their home in February.
Passing sentence after a week-long trial, Judge Mark Wall QC told Chana that false claims he had made about victims Jasbir Kaur and Rupinder Singh Bassan were the "clearest evidence of a complete lack of remorse".
The judge told Chana: "You claimed to the jury that you had killed them in self-defence. The truth was very different, as they decided.
"I am sure that the allegations you made at trial were false and designed to garner jury sympathy for you."
Pointing out that the knife used in the killings had inflicted 29 wounds on Mrs Kaur and 30 on her husband, the judge added: "The effects of what you have done are devastating - two people have lost their lives.
"There are no mitigating features that I need to reflect in sentence, save that you are a relatively young man of 26."
Detective Inspector Hannah Whitehouse of West Midlands Police said she was "pleased" with the outcome of the trial, after Chana showed a complete "lack of remorse" throughout.
She said: "Jasbir Kaur and Rupinder Singh Bassan were murdered by Anmol Chana on Saturday, February 22, this year at their home address in Moat Road, Oldbury and both of them had really extensive injuries – over 20 each inflicted by a knife at the hands of Anmol Chana.
"As a result of the number of injuries the scene inside the house was quite shocking due to the amount of blood that those injuries had caused. So it was a really frenzied attack."
Chana's sister Kiran Chana was the one to raise the alarm after having not heard from her parents in a few days – and due to her brother's not guilty plea she was forced to give evidence at his trial.
Det Insp Whitehouse said: "He steals from both victims, takes money from both of them, and also takes their car.
"We see that he attends a pub, has a drink and plays pool, and also makes a couple of phone calls to escort agencies, during the period of the murders and him being arrested.
"He pays the money into an account in Bearwood, and tries to use that money to buy a plane ticket to leave the country to evade capture which he is unsuccessful in.
"So his acts following the murder really bring home his lack of remorse about the really brutal murders that he’s committed, and that’s something that has run throughout the course of the trial due to his not guilty plea. We’re really pleased with the conviction because of the detail we’ve gone into in the investigation and also especially because of Kiran having to give evidence at court."
Det Insp Whitehouse praised Chana's sister Kiran for her "formidable" strength during the trial.
She added: "Kiran gave evidence that her mother used to have to lock away knives and anything else that could be used as a weapon, lock them away from Chana. They also shared a bedroom, Jasbir and her daughter Kiran, and they used to lock their door at night as they were fearful of what he may do.
"During the course of the investigation we found previous threats made to Jasbir and Kiran by Anmol and one of those included threats to stab both of them.
"They’ve had to call the police because of his behaviour and because of his violence."
She added: "Kiran has been a very formidable person through the course of this trial. I was extremely impressed by her, she's a very articulate woman. The position she found herself in is horrifying. In the blink of an eye she lost her parents and she lost her brother due to his own actions, he will no longer be in her life either.
"She has been through such significant change such a short space of time and hopefully the result at court today will allow her to move on and focus on her future."
