A 44-year-old factory worker from Telford who stabbed a colleague to death in a petty row was today beginning a life sentence.

Balraj Singh, who had denied the charge, was ordered to serve a minimum term of 20 years in prison after being found guilty of murder yesterday at the Old Bailey in London.

Singh, of Weavers Rise, Ketley Bank, was found guilty by a unanimous verdict of murdering 42-year-old Gurmukh Singh Chahal at Mac Engineering on the Bridge Road Industrial Estate, Southall, west London, in April this year.

The court heard Singh had a grudge against Mr Chahal and rushed downstairs with a knife when he saw his co-worker near his car.

The two men struggled before Mr Chahal, 42, collapsed from a knife wound which punctured a lung and cut a vital blood vessel.

Mr Chahal’s widow, Kamlesh Chahal, said in a victim impact statement to the court that she has been left with a “terrible sense of emptiness”.

She said: “Our shared goals, dreams and aspirations for our daughter’s future have all been taken away.”

Singh qualified for an automatic 25-year starting point for his jail term under sentencing powers for knife crime but The Recorder of London, Judge Peter Beaumont QC, said he felt able to reduce that because Singh had a good work record and had never been in trouble before.

The week-long trial had heard how Singh, employed by Mac Engineering for 19 years, lived in Telford but stayed in the factory living quarters during the week.

The court was told Singh and Mr Chahal argued a few days before the killing on April 9 when Singh warned Mr Chahal to avoid his car when pushing bins.

Singh also claimed he had reported Mr Chahal to the factory owner, Roger Sharma, on April 4, accusing him of “slacking off”.

Miss Zoe Johnson, prosecuting, told the court: “It seems the defendant may have had a grudge against the deceased, which festered in the confines of the factory.”

Singh was caught on CCTV charging from an upstairs kitchen and attacking Mr Chahal with a knife he had been using to prepare a curry.

By Simon Hardy