Man 'stabbed mother and stepfather in Oldbury home then contacted escort and went to pub'

A knife-obsessed man accused of stabbing his mother and stepfather to death with a combat blade once sent a text message about pouring boiling oil down his parent’s throat, a court has heard.

Anmol Chana is accused of murdering Jasbir Kaur, 52, and her husband, Rupinder Bassan, 51, at their home in Moat Road, Oldbury, in February 2020.

The 26-year-old, of Hamilton Road, Smethwick, had some “animosity” towards his mother, having sent a text in 2017 expressing a desire “to knife her”, Birmingham Crown Court was told on Tuesday.

Chana’s text read: “Man, I want to knife her or pour boiling oil down her throat, (put) her head in a chip pan.”

The jury heard that, after the killing, Chana allegedly stole money from the semi-detached home and fled the scene in Mr Bassan’s yellow Toyota Aygo, before contacting a female escort, going to a pub and “calmly playing pool”.

He is also alleged to have plotted to flee the UK, booking a plane ticket to Italy via Turkey, and writing himself a reminder list including entries to “rob a Lidl” and “buy a new knife”.

Prosecution barrister Jason Pitter QC, opening the case, said: “It was 4.29am on the morning of February 24 this year that a young woman by the name of Kiran Chana contacted the police.

“She was concerned she had not been able to get in touch with her mum and stepfather since Saturday, a few days before, when she had left them at home with her brother, the defendant.

“As things transpired, the next time they would be seen by anyone, apart from the defendant, was when police entered their home to find a scene of utter carnage.

“Both of them, we say, had been brutally murdered – stabbed multiple times with a knife in what must have been a ferocious attack.

“The tragedy is they were killed by the defendant who they had only, that same Saturday, allowed to stay under this same roof.”

Mr Pitter added: “The prosecution say, in simple terms, he wanted to kill them of course and therefore is guilty of murder in respect of both of them.”

The Crown’s barrister alleged that Chana had had a “fascination with knives” since the age of 16, such that “knives had to be locked away in the family home” and police had had to be called “on several occasions” because of his behaviour.

He was “capable of being violent to those closest to him, including his mother, towards whom he had some animosity”, said Mr Pitter.

The prosecutor added that those who knew Chana said “his behaviour had deteriorated”, and he was “aggressive towards his mother and sister”.

However, despite his behaviour, his mother and stepfather were “sympathetic” and had tried to get him to go to live at their home “so they could look after him”.

Chana told his mother he would like to go to stay and the family “jumped to make preparations”, readying a bedroom for his arrival on Saturday February 22.

Mrs Kaur’s daughter – the defendant’s sister – Kiran Chana, had visited the couple’s house that day and recalled phoning her mother to tell her she was home safe. It would be the last time they spoke.

When Miss Chana was unable to get through to her mother and stepfather on the Sunday, February 23, she raised the alarm.

When police visited her parents’ address “they were immediately met with a bloody scene”, said Mr Pitter.

“Drag marks leading to the bodies in the rear living room area.

“They’d been stabbed multiple times, inflicting what can properly be described as horrendous injuries.”

After the killings, the prosecutors claimed Chana visited Birmingham City Hospital A&E for treatment, having been “bitten severely on his thumb” – an injury allegedly suffered during the knife attack.

Mr Pitter added: “You will hear something of the contact he made with some ladies – at least one of them was an escort.

“He went to the pub, had a drink and calmly played pool.

“At this stage, by his actions, his mother and stepfather were most probably dead.”

The couple, who had had been together for three years before marrying in 2019, had been “stabbed and sliced”, jurors were told.

The Crown’s barrister said Mrs Kaur had “in excess of 20 stab injuries to her front, back and to her hands where she was trying, we allege, to defend herself – the wounds cutting into bone”.

Mr Bassan also had more than 20 injuries, including “one penetrating bone and the heart, sufficient to kill, one right through his arm, and a gaping injury to his neck, cutting the carotid artery and jugular vein, bisecting the spine”, Mr Pitter said.

After being arrested at his home in Hamilton Road, Smethwick, Chana denied any part in the killings during interview, telling officers “only God will judge”.

Jurors heard that detectives found the keys to Mr Bassan’s Toyota car at Chana’s home, travel documents for the trip to Italy, and a “combat-style knife, still with the blood of the victims, found on his bed, among the bedclothes”.

The prosecutor said the jury were likely to hear the defendant would claim Mr Bassan had been the aggressor, coming at Chana with a knife, after offering him a place to stay.

Chana denies any wrongdoing and the trial, expected to last seven days, continues.