Murder jury offered alternative charge for five men accused of killing DPD worker
A judge has told a jury trying five men for the murder of a DPD worker that they "can consider" a lesser charge of manslaughter.
Aurman Singh, of Topsham Road, Smethwick, died after he was attacked in Berwick Avenue, Shrewsbury on Monday, August 21 of 2023.
He had been attacked with an array of weapons including and axe and a golf club by a gang of men who it is alleged had travelled from the Black Country in two cars and attacked the 23-year-old DPD worker as he made deliveries.
Five men are currently standing trial at Stafford Crown Court charged with murder.
Arshdeep Singh, 24, of Shaw Road in Tipton; Shivdeep Singh, 27; Manjot Singh, 25; and Jagdeep Singh, 22, all of Greenfield Road in Smethwick; and Sukhmandeep Singh, 24, from Orton Goldhay, Peterborough, all deny murder.
Four men, also from the Black Country: Harpreet Singh, Mehakdeep Singh, Harwinder Singh Turna and Sehajpal Singh, remain at large and are still wanted in connection with the death.
The jury at Stafford Crown Court were told on Friday, ahead of the closing arguments to be put to them next week, that they "can consider" a manslaughter verdict for the five men in the dock.
Judge Kristina Montgomery KC told the ten men and two women that the alternative charge had been put to all five men in the jury's absence, and all five had pleaded not guilty.
She told the jury the charge should only be considered if they have found the five men not guilty of murder and that the manslaughter charge had been placed on the indictment on her "instigation".
She said: "It is the prosecution's case that there was an agreement between all the defendants that Aurman Singh was to be attacked and caused serious injury, and that agreement was carried out by the defendants and they all had different roles."
She added that it was the defence's case that the attack was "unexpected" by the men on trial and was in fact committed by the four men in the Mercedes who are yet to be arrested.
"You will have to consider whether the violence was pre-arranged and orchestrated," she said.
The trial is set to continue next Tuesday when the jury will hear the closing arguments from both the prosecutor Mr Simon Denison KC and the counsel representing the five suspects before they retire to deliberate on their verdicts.