Sukhdev Singh

A man accused of a double murder in Shropshire admitted to police hitting the two victims with a hammer before fleeing to a Sikh temple in Smethwick, a court heard today.

Sukhdev Singh, 26, first told police officers that he had discovered the bodies of Jaswant Singh, also known as Jim, and Kulwant Singh, also known as John, at about 8.45am on December 7 last year, but later said he had lied. 

The bodies of the men were found in a flat above Shawbury Fish Bar on December 7 last year.

He said the pair had tortured him and made him miserable and he attacked them with a hammer because his life had become unbearable.

The jury in Sukhdev Singh’s trial at Stafford Crown Court today heard the victims had forced him to drink alcohol and had taunted him.

In a police interview, Sukhdev Singh said: “They were done by me, no-one else was involved.

“It was unbearable for me to live here and I was tortured because of Jim.

“I was always unhappy. I thought to myself I would be better off in India but I could not tell anyone who was torturing me.”

Sukhdev Singh told police he travelled to Birmingham to speak to the British Embassy and return to his home country, but was unable to do so because he had no passport.

On the night he allegedly murdered the pair, Sukhdev Singh told police he was in bed but they would not let him sleep.

He told police: “I was lying down awake and I got angry because they were torturing me.

“I got up, the hammer was there, I picked it up. I can’t remember how many times I hit Jim. John was swearing at me so I hit him. He came straight at me then I hit him again. I knew they tortured me but I never intended to kill them.”

The trial continues.

By Abigail Bates