Pair jailed for life for Shrewsbury DPD driver's murder
Two men have been jailed for life for murdering a DPD delivery driver as he was delivering parcels.Aurman Singh, 23, from Smethwick, was attacked with weapons including an axe, a golf club and a shovel in the Coton Hill area of Shrewsbury in 2023.Mehakdeep Singh, 24 and Sehajpal Singh, 26, both from Tipton in the West Midlands, who were previously found guilty of murder, were given life sentences on Friday and told they would serve a minimum term of 28 years in prison.Five other men were convicted in 2024 over the death of Mr Singh, who was based at DPD's depot in Stoke-on-Trent.
During Friday's hearing at Stafford Crown Court, Aurman Singh's mum, Kuljit Kaur, said her son's death had "shattered her world".Prosecutors said it was unclear what motivated the attack which killed him and he died at the scene on Berwick Avenue in August 2023.
Mehakdeep Singh and Sehajpal Singh fled in a white Mercedes which was later found dumped on Kynaston Road, Shrewsbury, West Mercia Police said.They then called a taxi to the town's railway station where they got a train to Wolverhampton before fleeing abroad several days later.They were tracked down and arrested in Austria in May before they were charged with Mr Singh's murder two months later.
The previous five to be convicted were:Arshdeep Singh, 24 of Shaw Road, Tipton, Dudley - guilty of murderJagdeep Singh, 23, of Goodrich Mews, Dudley - guilty of murderShivdeep Singh, 27, of Greenfield Road, Smethwick - guilty of murderManjot Singh, 24, also of Greenfield Road, Smethwick - guilty of murderSukhmandeep Singh, 24, from Paynels, in Orton Goldhay, Peterborough - guilty of manslaughter.
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South Wales Guardian
9 hours ago
- South Wales Guardian
Driver who killed two while on immigration centre bail given life term
Warwick Crown Court was told Albanian national Emiljano Kasaj was in the UK illegally and in breach of his bail from an immigration detention centre when he used his Mercedes to unlawfully kill passer-by Leo Moran and cyclist Joel Carriedo. A third victim was knocked into a building and suffered a head injury during what High Court Judge Mr Justice Choudhury described as 'horrendous' offences committed against innocent victims in Coventry in September 2023. Kasaj, aged 34, pleaded guilty in March this year to one count of attempted murder and two counts of manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility. His sentencing hearing was told on Monday that he was suffering from a severe paranoid illness, probably schizophrenia, at the time of the killings, falsely believing he was a 'king' who was being blackmailed by political leaders in Albania. The court heard that as he was placed into a cell after the deaths, Kasaj had said a burst tyre had prevented him claiming more victims and said: 'I have killed two people today. I was going to be next. It was my turn to get slaughtered.' Passing sentence, the judge told Kasaj: 'On September 3 2023 you decided to kill random members of the public by mowing them down in your car. 'In the space of a few minutes you killed two people and seriously injured a third. 'It is only because you crashed your car that mercifully there were no more victims.' Describing the events as a 'killing spree', the judge said of comments made by Kasaj after his arrest: 'You therefore admitted hitting the victims intentionally with the purpose of killing them.' Accepting that the explanation for Kasaj's actions lay in his mental health problems and the 'beliefs' he held, the judge told him: 'You clearly had what the law calls an abnormality of mental functioning.' Kasaj was sentenced to life with a minimum term of nine years and four months and also given an indefinite hybrid order under mental health laws meaning he will be detained in hospital 'for as long as is necessary' given his condition. Graphic CCTV footage played to the court showed 44-year-old Mr Moran, who died of a neck injury, being struck at 7.56am in Gosford Street. Other footage, presented to the court by prosecutor Peter Grieves-Smith, showed the car driving off at speed with a smashed windscreen, and later travelling towards hospital worker Mr Carriedo, a married father-of-two. The 47-year-old NHS worker, whose bike was split in two by the impact, died of chest injuries after being struck head-on and knocked over a wall in Woodway Lane at 8.03am. Opening the facts of the case against Kasaj, of no fixed address, Mr Grieves-Smith said the defendant went on to crash into a house around 300 metres away and was arrested almost an hour later in a nearby garden. The court heard Kasaj had used a false name and address to register the vehicle. Mr Grieves-Smith said Kasaj was arrested for immigration offences in August 2022 as he had made no attempts to register with the authorities, and was detained in order to be removed back to Albania. Kasaj was held at Harmondsworth Detention Centre in west London but in October 2022, the court heard, he was bailed to an address in Newfield Road, Coventry, with a condition to sign on at the Solihull Immigration Centre on December 5. Mr Grieves-Smith said: 'He failed to appear for this and all other appointments.' Psychiatric evidence presented to the court showed that Kasaj suffers from 'a major mental illness, the most likely diagnosis being schizophrenia' which may have been aggravated by use of cannabis or cocaine in the weeks before the incident. In a victim impact statement to the court, Mr Moran's mother Teresa said: 'Leo was my youngest son and we had a bond like no other. He left his mark wherever he went. 'We knew early on in the police investigation that the murderer was known to the Home Office. We later found out he was an illegal immigrant. 'Leo has been let down by the Home Office. We have all been let down by the Home Office. If the Home Office had done their job properly then the public of Coventry may have been saved and Leo might still be here. 'There will never be justice for Leo.' In other tributes read to the court, Mr Corriedo – whose wife said he had been callously left to die – was described as a 'wonderful, protective and caring' husband and a devoted father.
North Wales Chronicle
9 hours ago
- North Wales Chronicle
Car rampage killer was on bail from immigration detention centre, court told
Warwick Crown Court was told 'nothing was done' by the Home Office as 34-year-old Emiljano Kasaj failed to attend appointments for almost a year before he used his Mercedes to deliberately kill pedestrian Leo Moran and cyclist Joel Carriedo. Kasaj, who was arrested on the morning of September 3 2023 after crashing into a house in Coventry, pleaded guilty in March this year to one count of attempted murder and two counts of manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility. His sentencing hearing on Monday was shown graphic CCTV footage of 44-year-old Mr Moran, who died of a neck injury, being struck at 7.56am in Gosford Street, Coventry, while another passer-by was knocked into a building and suffered a head wound. Other footage, presented to the court by prosecutor Peter Grieves-Smith, showed the car driving off at speed with a smashed windscreen, and later travelling towards hospital worker Mr Carriedo, a father-of-two. The NHS worker, whose bike was split in two by the impact, died of chest injuries after being struck head-on and knocked over a wall around seven minutes later in Woodway Lane, Coventry. Opening the facts of the case against Kasaj, of no fixed address, Mr Grieves-Smith told High Court Judge Mr Justice Choudhury that the defendant then struck a house around 300 metres away and was arrested almost an hour later in a nearby garden. The court heard Kasaj had used a false name and address to register the vehicle. Mr Grieves-Smith told the court psychiatrists had diagnosed the defendant as suffering from a paranoid psychosis linked to schizophrenia – with him telling experts he believed he had to kill because he was being blackmailed. The Crown's barrister said of the defendant: 'Born in July 1990, he is an Albanian national with no previous convictions or cautions. 'He told the defence psychiatrist that having left school he worked at a car wash and then travelled to Athens to find work. He came to the UK about two years prior to the offences and settled in Coventry.' The court heard that Kasaj also said 'he came to England for a better life' and was in 'in the UK illegally' but did not claim benefits. Mr Grieves-Smith told the court: 'The police made inquiries about his status. Checks with Albanian authorities show he left Albania in January 2022. 'He was arrested for immigration offences in August 2022 as he had made no attempts to register and he was detained in order to be removed. 'He said he had been trafficked into the country in the back of a lorry.' The court heard Kasaj was held at Harmondsworth Detention Centre in west London and attended a hospital during that period, although the visit was not related to his mental health. On October 7 2022, the court heard, Kasaj was bailed to an address in Newfield Road, Coventry, with 'a condition to sign on' at the Solihull Immigration Centre on December 5. Mr Grieves-Smith continued: 'He failed to appear for this and all other appointments. 'So at the time he committed these offences he was subject to bail conditions imposed because of his immigration status. He was in breach of them but nothing was done about it by the Home Office.' Psychiatric evidence presented to the court showed that Kasaj suffers from 'a major mental illness, the most likely diagnosis being schizophrenia' which may have been aggravated by use of cannabis or cocaine in the weeks before the incident. Kasaj, who appeared in the dock alongside an interpreter and several mental health nurses, is due to be sentenced later on Monday.
North Wales Chronicle
9 hours ago
- North Wales Chronicle
Driver who killed two while on immigration centre bail given life term
Warwick Crown Court was told Albanian national Emiljano Kasaj was in the UK illegally and in breach of his bail from an immigration detention centre when he used his Mercedes to unlawfully kill passer-by Leo Moran and cyclist Joel Carriedo. A third victim was knocked into a building and suffered a head injury during what High Court Judge Mr Justice Choudhury described as 'horrendous' offences committed against innocent victims in Coventry in September 2023. Kasaj, aged 34, pleaded guilty in March this year to one count of attempted murder and two counts of manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility. His sentencing hearing was told on Monday that he was suffering from a severe paranoid illness, probably schizophrenia, at the time of the killings, falsely believing he was a 'king' who was being blackmailed by political leaders in Albania. The court heard that as he was placed into a cell after the deaths, Kasaj had said a burst tyre had prevented him claiming more victims and said: 'I have killed two people today. I was going to be next. It was my turn to get slaughtered.' Passing sentence, the judge told Kasaj: 'On September 3 2023 you decided to kill random members of the public by mowing them down in your car. 'In the space of a few minutes you killed two people and seriously injured a third. 'It is only because you crashed your car that mercifully there were no more victims.' Describing the events as a 'killing spree', the judge said of comments made by Kasaj after his arrest: 'You therefore admitted hitting the victims intentionally with the purpose of killing them.' Accepting that the explanation for Kasaj's actions lay in his mental health problems and the 'beliefs' he held, the judge told him: 'You clearly had what the law calls an abnormality of mental functioning.' Kasaj was sentenced to life with a minimum term of nine years and four months and also given an indefinite hybrid order under mental health laws meaning he will be detained in hospital 'for as long as is necessary' given his condition. Graphic CCTV footage played to the court showed 44-year-old Mr Moran, who died of a neck injury, being struck at 7.56am in Gosford Street. Other footage, presented to the court by prosecutor Peter Grieves-Smith, showed the car driving off at speed with a smashed windscreen, and later travelling towards hospital worker Mr Carriedo, a married father-of-two. The 47-year-old NHS worker, whose bike was split in two by the impact, died of chest injuries after being struck head-on and knocked over a wall in Woodway Lane at 8.03am. Opening the facts of the case against Kasaj, of no fixed address, Mr Grieves-Smith said the defendant went on to crash into a house around 300 metres away and was arrested almost an hour later in a nearby garden. The court heard Kasaj had used a false name and address to register the vehicle. Mr Grieves-Smith said Kasaj was arrested for immigration offences in August 2022 as he had made no attempts to register with the authorities, and was detained in order to be removed back to Albania. Kasaj was held at Harmondsworth Detention Centre in west London but in October 2022, the court heard, he was bailed to an address in Newfield Road, Coventry, with a condition to sign on at the Solihull Immigration Centre on December 5. Mr Grieves-Smith said: 'He failed to appear for this and all other appointments.' Psychiatric evidence presented to the court showed that Kasaj suffers from 'a major mental illness, the most likely diagnosis being schizophrenia' which may have been aggravated by use of cannabis or cocaine in the weeks before the incident. In a victim impact statement to the court, Mr Moran's mother Teresa said: 'Leo was my youngest son and we had a bond like no other. He left his mark wherever he went. 'We knew early on in the police investigation that the murderer was known to the Home Office. We later found out he was an illegal immigrant. 'Leo has been let down by the Home Office. We have all been let down by the Home Office. If the Home Office had done their job properly then the public of Coventry may have been saved and Leo might still be here. 'There will never be justice for Leo.' In other tributes read to the court, Mr Corriedo – whose wife said he had been callously left to die – was described as a 'wonderful, protective and caring' husband and a devoted father.
