Baljit Singh murder: 'It's tough enough he was killed but, the lies were humiliating'
The family of murder victim Baljit 'Bill' Singh today spoke of their distress at the way his reputation was damaged during the case.
Gurprit Dosanjh, one of his brothers, said: "It was tough enough coming to terms with his death and hearing details of the way he died but sitting in court listening to his good name being tarnished by the persistent lies of the man involved in the murder was very hard to stomach. It was character assassination without a grain of truth."
Stuart Millership made a string of claims from the witness box alleging Mr Singh had links with gangsters, drug deals and owed money to Albanian criminals.
Mr Dosanjh, a 47-year-old transport company boss and father of three from Oldbury, continued: "The defendant was the only person making these allegations and my brother was not there to defend himself. This caused my family and I untold stress and anxiety. It was humiliating. There was not a shred of evidence to support what was being said. It was just throwing mud over the memory of a good man held in high esteem in the local community.
"My brother was kind and generous. He would help anybody. Even Stuart Millership said that he was one of the best men you were ever likely to meet. He was a charitable man who was happily married.
"The last time I saw Baljit was at a family party in London on December 6. He had a non-alcoholic drink in his hand and I asked him why.
"We were all staying in hotels or with relatives in London but he was taking our mum, his wife and Roman back to Birmingham that night so his son could play football the following morning. That was typical of the man. He doted on Roman.
"It is heartbreaking because the murder happened on the boy's ninth birthday."
Mr Singh's widow Manjit found it too distressing to listen to details of the case but other members of the family were in court throughout the hearing.
Mr Dosanjh said: "Baljit fought bravely for his life and was then left for days under bin bags in a cellar, his body discarded without remorse."
Millership left us searching in vain for nine days over Christmas and New Year when the rest of the world was enjoying the festive break. All the time we believed he was still alive.
