DPD worker was forced to hide as armed gang murdered his colleague in street, court told

In continuing his opening case for the prosecution on Tuesday afternoon, Mr Simon Denison KC told the jury that Aurman Singh, of Topsham Road, Smethwick, was murdered in a "planned and organised" attack by nine men.

The court had previously heard how four of the attackers were still at large, while five men accused of the murder were standing trial.

Arshdeep Singh, 24, of Shaw Road, in Tipton; Shivdeeep Singh, 26, of Greenfield Road, Smethwick; Manjot Singh, 24, of Greenfield Road, Smethwick; Jagdeep Singh, 22, of Goodrich Mews, Dudley; and Sukhmandeep Singh, 23, from Paynels in Orton Goldhay, Peterborough, all deny killing the 23-year-old DPD driver.

Mr Denison said that Aurman Singh was attacked when his colleague Kamaljit Singh was delivering a parcel to an address in the Coton Mount area of Shrewsbury at around 1.05pm on August 21.

He told the court: "Kamaljit Singh has said that when he was at the door of the house he heard a door slam, he saw faces with masks, he ran and he shouted to Aurman Singh to run, he looked back and he saw someone hit him [Aurman] with something from behind and then he fell down."

Mr Denison said Kamaljit Singh then heard swearing and shouting in Punjabi before he saw somebody brandishing what he thought was a machete, causing him to run.

"He ran away to Coton Mount and hid until long after the cars had gone," said Mr Denison.

Mr Denison said that numerous residents in the area had seen or heard the attack, with many Berwick Avenue neighbours taking to the streets to assist Aurman Singh as he lay dying.

"Neighbours did what they could to help Aurman Singh until the police and then paramedics arrived," said Mr Denison.

"He had a large wound to his head that had fractured his skull and exposed his brain, and he had lost a lot of blood.

"While there was a sign of life when officers first got to him, very quickly he became unresponsive, with no pulse. Advanced life support treatment was provided to him but it was quickly apparent that the injuries that he had sustained were incompatible with life. He was formally pronounced dead as he lay on that pavement in Shrewsbury, at 13.44."

Mr Denison said many of the weapons used in the attack were later recovered in Hubert Way, Shrewsbury, after being found by dog walkers. The axe was found in a rubbish bin at an address in Tipton near to where four of the men were arrested, while the cricket bat was found in the Audi used by the men.

The DNA of one of the suspects, Jagdeep Singh, had been was recovered from the axe blade that was stained with Aurman Singh's blood, which Mr Denison said was consistent with Jagdeep Singh having handled it

He had told the jury that one of the defendants had taken the lead in planning the attack, and had received "inside" information on Aurman Singh's movements from another of the defendants who also worked for DPD.

"It was Arshdeep, the first defendant, to whom the inside man, Sukhmandeep, sent the photograph of the van," said Mr Denison.

"It was Arshdeep, travelling in the Audi, who sent to each of the occupants of the Mercedes the registration number of the van. And it was Arshdeep in the Audi who was in contact with Mehakdeep as they lay in wait for their victim."

He said that Arshdeep Singh had also made several phone calls to Mehakdeep Singh who was in the Mercedes.

"Through them, the two cars were in constant communication as they lay in wait for the DPD van and Aurman Singh to arrive. They were all very much a team acting together," said Mr Denison.

"Of course, they were all in it together. But the evidence shows that it was Arshdeep, and those with him in the Audi – Jagdeep and Manjot, driven there by Shivdeep - the first four defendants in this case, who led this brutal attack, although they were enthusiastically assisted by those in the Mercedes."

Mr Denison said that Arshdeep Singh had given a statement to police following his arrest and told officers that on August 21 he and Manjot Singh had gone to Shrewsbury that day to see a friend.

Arshdeep had claimed that it had been the men in the Mercedes car that carried out the attack and the occupants of the Audi had only got out of their vehicle with weapons to help the DPD driver.

However, Arshdeep Singh had changed his story after he was shown footage of the armed men assembling at his home address in Shaw Road on that morning, as well as footage of the two cars driving in convoy, but he continued to deny that he had any idea that the attack was to happen, or knowledge of the men in the Mercedes.

In summing up his opening arguments, Mr Denison told the jury: "The prosecution say that although the evidence doesn’t show why Aurman Singh was murdered, it does prove beyond any doubt who was responsible for his murder.

"Playing their different roles, each of Arshdeep Singh, Jagdeep Singh, Shivdeep Singh, Manjot Singh and Sukhmandeep played a part in bringing about his violent death that day, each of them played their part intending that he should be caused at least serious injury, and each of them is guilty of murder."

All five men deny murder.

The trial continues.