Four Indian-origin men in their 20s were found guilty on Thursday of the murder of a 23-year-old delivery driver, also of Indian heritage, after an attack in Shrewsbury, western England.
Aurman Singh was pronounced dead at the scene when the local West Mercia Police attended reports of an attack in the Berwick Avenue area of the city in August last year and went on to arrest four men on suspicion of murder.
Arshdeep Singh, 24, Jagdeep Singh, 22, Shivdeep Singh, 26, and Manjot Singh, 24, who were armed with weapons including an axe, hockey stick and shovel were charged with Singh’s murder.
“The attack on Aurman Singh was planned and organised by a group of men who armed themselves with weapons and used a level of violence that can only suggest they intended to kill him,” said Detective Chief Inspector (DCI) Mark Bellamy of West Marcia Police, who led the investigation.
“They used inside information to pick a location where they knew he would be and lay in wait before carrying out the brutal attack in broad daylight,” he said.
All four men denied murder but were found guilty by a jury after a six-week trial at Stafford Crown Court this week. A fifth Indian-origin man, Sukhmandeep Singh, 23, believed to be the “the inside man” who sent information about Aurman’s deliveries on the day he was murdered, was found guilty of manslaughter.
The court heard that none of the men had any links to Shrewsbury or the counties covered by West Mercia Police and Aurman Singh’s murder last year had a significant impact on the local community.
DCI Bellamy added: “We are incredibly grateful for the support from local residents and those who provided vital information to assist with our investigation and gave evidence in court.
“Today’s verdict should send a strong message to those who think they can come into our towns and cities to commit violent crime that we will not stop in our efforts to find them and put them before the courts.” The force described it as a complex investigation, which involved police forces across the country. Aurman Singh’s family issued a statement to say they were at a loss for words that could ever explain the impact the tragedy had on them.
“Today a mother will grow old without her son. A sister will grow up without her brother. We don’t want what has happened to us to happen to another family. It is an unbearable loss for us which has changed our lives,” the family statement read.
“We will be living our lives for the sake of it but our happiness and the will to live is not there. We would like to thank the police for conducting their investigation diligently and supporting us through this tough time,” it added.
Throughout the trial, no evidence emerged that would explain a motive behind the brutal attack on Aurman Singh.