Halfway House murder trial: Stab victim’s son found father’s body at diner
The son of a businessman found dead at his diner has told jurors of the moment he discovered the body at the premises.
Satnam Singh Blugher, aged 67, was found “with multiple stab wounds on the floor” of the kitchen at Tony’s Diner by his son Hardeep on the afternoon of June 26 after a delivery driver was unable to get inside.
Mr Blugher, known as Mr B, ran the roadside cafe on the A458 at Halfway House, between Shrewsbury and Welshpool, for about 15 years.
Cafe employee Belkar Singh, aged 58, denies murdering Mr Blugher before fleeing the premises with about £47,000 in cash.
Mr Blugher, had been stabbed more than 50 times, the court heard earlier this week.
The case so far:
Giving evidence at the trial at Stafford Crown Court Mr Blugher’s son said his father had 30 years experience as a chef and was like “an Asian Gordon Ramsay” with high standards. But they had disagreed over the some of the types of people he would employ.
Mr Blugher told the court how his father sometimes employed “unskilled foreign nationals” without rights to remain in the UK, which he was unhappy about.
He explained that his father had clashed previously with staff.
He told the court that 10 years ago one man “beat him to a pulp” and about five years ago there was a fracas with three male staff, resulting in tables and chairs being broken.
“It was a recipe for disaster every time,” he said.
“Some of these people were poor, uneducated workers.
“My dad had high standards. It was never going to work. I tried to tell my dad that things like this was going to happen over and over again, until the inevitable came,” Mr Blugher told the court.
The trial continues.
