Baljit “Bill” Singh (50), had gone out to buy a cake and pizza for his son's birthday. Little did anyone anticipate that it would be the last time they would be seeing him alive. Baljit Singh was brutally murdered by his former business associate and tenant, drug dealer Stuart Millership (33), on 23rd December 2014.
It is said that Millership had attacked Singh when he had refused to give his £15,000 Range Rover as a payment for an alleged debt. Singh was battered over the head up to 20 times with an iron bar, in the living room of where Stuart Millership was living.
Millership, who knew Singh for 15 years, had stabbed him in the neck with a kitchen knife. His body had been found by the police on New Year's Day under bin bags in the cellar of Millership's house, within 24 hours of being arrested in suspicion of stealing Singh's Range Rover.
It is said that he had also taken the victim's car to do his Christmas shopping after the murder.
Stuart Millership who pleaded "guilty" for murder at Wolverhampton Crown Court, also claimed that he played a minor role and the fatal blows to Singh had occurred after he left the scene, by two Albanian gangster, whom Singh had allegedly owed money to.
Judge John Warner, dismissed his claims and declared, “His evidence is not worthy of belief. I am satisfied this was a deliberate lie motivated by fear of the truth coming out.”
Baljit Singh's family were distraught having to hear the allegations in court. One of Singh's brothers, Gurprit Dosanjh (47) said, “It was tough enough coming to terms with his death and hearing details of the way he died but sitting in court listening to his good name being tarnished by the persistent lies of a man involved in the murder was very hard to stomach. It was character assassination without a grain of truth.”
Stuart Millership was given life imprisonment with the minimum term of 25 years for the brutal murder of Baljit Singh.
Sentencing Millership, Judge Warner said, “Only you know the detail of what actually happened in that house and what conversation passed between you and Mr Singh. I am sure he was refusing to give you all that you wanted. Your reaction was to completely lose it and to launch a sustained and frenzied attack.”
Detective Inspector Warren Hines, West Midlands Police said, “Baljit Singh and Millership were known friends and loose business associates who saw each other on a regular basis. Millership had previously lived in a flat owned by the deceased. Baljit left his home to collect a cake and a pizza for his son’s ninth birthday party and never returned.
“This was a truly awful crime, Baljit was subjected to a brutal assault by a man he should have had no reason to fear, a man who he had befriended and helped over a number of years. I really hope this verdict will allow Baljit’s family to start rebuilding their lives.”
