Court hears of the horrific injuries suffered by DPD driver killed in street
A court has been told of the injuries suffered by a DPD driver who was killed in a broad daylight attack in Shrewsbury last year.
Aurman Singh, of Topsham Road, Smethwick, died after he was attacked in Berwick Avenue, Coton Hill, on Monday, August 21.
The 23-year-old DPD worker was attacked by a gang of men as he and a colleague were delivering parcels in the area.
In the second week of the murder trial of four Black Country men and a man from Peterborough, Stafford Crown Court heard from consultant forensic pathologist Dr Brett Lockyer.
Dr Lockyer, who conducted the post-mortem on Aurman Singh, told the court on Wednesday that the deceased had suffered numerous bruises, abrasions and lacerations to the face, temple and chin.
The court heard how there more than 40 injuries on Mr Singh discovered during his post-mortem.
Among them, Dr Lockyer explained, was a "J-shaped, chop-type" injury on the right side of the victim's scalp that had fractured his skull.
He said the injury was consistent with an axe striking the deceased at an angle, and that a similar "chop type" wound was found on the left side of the scalp and the back of the head.
When asked by prosecutor Simon Denison KC when these injuries would have occurred, he replied: "The injuries I am describing would have been recent and likely to have occurred at around the same time."
He told the court that Mr Singh's right ear had also been partially amputated, which Dr Lockyer concluded was consistent with a "golf club head being wielded with a severe degree of force".
The court had previously heard how a golf club head and its shaft had been recovered in Berwick Avenue and an axe had been found dumped in a wheelie bin near to where the defendants had been arrested in Tipton.
Dr Lockyer said more bruises, abrasions and lacerations were found on Mr Singh's abdomen, upper arms, forearms, hands, fingers and knuckles.
There was also a deep stab wound to the back that had pierced Mr Singh's chest and cut his rib in half. He said there was evidence that the wound was caused by a knife that was used with such force that the hilt may have caused an abrasion found on the deceased's skin.
There was a further stab wound to the right side of the back, and one to the right shin, Dr Lockyer said.
The jury were told that samples from Mr Singh had been sent to a toxicologist and there had been evidence of previous use of cocaine and the prescription drugs tramadol, morphine and codeine - drugs which Mr Singh had not been prescribed by a doctor.
But Dr Lockyer added: "The concentrations detected were low so it is unlikely he was experiencing significant effects of these drugs at the time of his death."
Dr Lockyer told the jury that he had concluded that Aurman Singh had died from a "traumatic head injury" that had been "likely caused by an axe being wielded to the head".
Arshdeep Singh, 24, of Shaw Road in Tipton; Shivdeeep Singh, 26, of Greenfield Road in Smethwick; Manjot Singh, 24, also of Greenfield Road; Jagdeep Singh, 22, of Goodrich Mews in Dudley; and Sukhmandeep Singh, 23, from Orton Goldhay, Peterborough, all deny murder.
Four other men, Harpreet Singh, Mehakdeep Singh, Harwinder Singh Turna and Sehajpal Singh, are still wanted by police in connection with the murder but remain at large.
The trial before Judge Kristina Montgomery KC continues.