Dumped lover jailed for life over West Bromwich murder
A spurned lover who murdered his partner after she tried to leave him for another man has been jailed for a minimum of 12 years.
Gurinder Singh strangled Paramjit Kaur at their home in Walter Street, West Bromwich.
The trial lasted seven days but it took the jury of eight men and four women just 34 minutes to arrive at the unanimous guilty verdict yesterday.
Sentencing him today for a minimum of 12 years, Judge John Warner said: "I am quite satisfied that your intention was to kill her. I am satisfied there was no premeditation. You did give yourself up to the police and that led to the body being discovered." He added: "After you did what you did, you cleaned up with paper kitchen towel and manhandled her body into the store room.
"I'm satisfied that you knew full well from the outset that you had killed this lady."
Singh, aged 42, had always admitted killing his 34-year-old partner but denied murder, saying he never meant to kill her.
The court heard the attack happened on July 2, 2011, after he discovered she had met and begun a relationship with a man she knew from India called Budh Ram.
About a week and a half before July 2, Ms Kaur decided to leave Singh, and the night before her death Mr Ram went to the house she shared with the defendant to collect her belongings.
At about 6.45am the next day Mr Ram had a missed call from her mobile, and when he tried to call her back Singh answered the phone. The court heard Singh said he was going to kill Mr Ram. Later that evening, prosecutor Mr Gareth Walters said Mr Ram received another call and there were more threats to kill him.
At 8.20pm, Singh surrendered himself at Smethwick police station. There, he told officers he had 'put his hands around her neck', and indicated Ms Kaur's body was in a store room.
Det Sgt Ranj Sangha, from the Major Investigation Team, said: "Singh hid her body and left it in a store cupboard for a number of hours while he travelled to and from London before taking the decision to report his crime to police.
"I hope today's verdict brings some closure to Paramjit's family and friends."
Ms Kaur, 34, leaves a 13-year-old daughter who lives with her grandparents in India.
