Halfway House murder trial: Accused is taken ill
The jury at the Halfway House diner murder trial was sent home for the day after the defendant was taken ill with chest pains.
Belkar Singh, 58, of Booth Street, Birmingham is charged with killing businessman Satnam Singh Blugher in June at Tony’s Diner, between Shrewsbury and Welshpool.
Singh, who denies murder, was due to appear at Stafford Crown Court yesterday for day six of the murder trial, but the jury was told he had complained of chest, head and shoulder pains, and had been taken to County Hospital, Stafford, for tests.
His condition was unknown last night and the jury was due to return to court this morning for an update.
It is alleged that Singh attacked the victim for money and was motivated by greed.
Mr Blugher was found by his son Hardeep on the kitchen floor of Tony’s Diner at Halfway House, near Shrewsbury, on June 26.
He had been stabbed nearly 50 times.
The case so far:
Mr David Mason, QC, prosecuting, had previously told the jury that the victim had been brutally attacked.
Mr Mason said that when Belkar Singh was eventually arrested in Birmingham, where he had fled in a taxi, more than £47,000 in cash belonging to Mr Blugher was recovered from the defendant.
Mr Mason QC said that Belkar Singh, who denies murdering the grandfather, had carried out a “cowardly attack” on his alleged victim “motivated by greed”.
“The prosecution will say and prove to you that this man in the dock was responsible for this killing and once you have heard all the evidence in this case you will have no difficulty in saying that this man in the dock is a cold-blooded killer,” Mr Mason told the jury earlier in the trial.
The court heard that Singh was employed mainly to wash dishes at the diner.
The Punjabi-speaking Indian national had overstayed his visitor’s visa and was working illegally in this country.
The trial continues.
