Two men get life sentences for murder of Brit-Indian shopkeeper Gurmail Singh

LONDON - Two men have been jailed for life in connection with the murder of an Indian-origin shopkeeper, Gurmail Singh, during a robbery at his village store in West Yorkshire.

Singh was hit over the head with bottles of wine from the shelves of Cowcliffe Convenience Stores in Cowcliffe, Huddersfield, in February.

Huddersfield men Muawaz Khalid and Nabeel Shafi were previously convicted of murder at Bradford Crown Court.

According to the BBC, 20-year-old Khalid was told that he must spend at least 21 years in prison while 18-year-old Shafi was given a 20-year minimum term. Khalid, of Blackmoorfoot Road, was also convicted of robbery at his trial.

The sentencing judge, Justice Henriques said he accepted the murder had not been premeditated, but the attack had been carried out on a vulnerable man carrying out a public service.

“This was a most violent and sickening attack by at least two of you on a lone shopkeeper late at night. It is to be regretted that no defendant at any time during the eight-week trial showed the slightest remorse,” Justice Henriques said.

Three other Huddersfield men have also been reportedly sentenced in connection with the case.

Rehman Afzal, 18, of Jacinth Court, Fartown, was jailed for five years and four months for robbery, while Umare Aslam, 20, of Coniston Avenue in Dalton, was given a six-and-a-half year sentence for the same offence.

Eighteen-year-old Shoaib Khan of Calton Street in Hillhouse, was sentenced to eight months for assisting an offender. He has been released because of time already served on remand, the report said.

The court heard the shopkeeper came to England from India in 1963 and raised his family in Huddersfield. He bought the Cowcliffe shop about five years ago. (ANI)