Phone claim on lake 'murder' victim
A murder victim was lured to his death by a call made from a mobile phone used by a school friend who had stolen his name to take out a £318,000 insurance policy on the life of the victim, a jury heard.
Jasbir Singh Bains' mobile phone was missing when his body was discovered floating in a lake after his throat had been cut, Wolverhampton Crown Court was told.
Inquiries revealed the last call received by it came from a phone previously used by Jagdev Singh Rai to contact the victim that has never been used since, it was claimed.
Mr Bains, aged 41, owed £14,000 to 44-year-old Rai, who was named as a beneficiary of the life policy and resorted to murder because of the debt, the court heard.
The body of the victim had cash in the pockets of the jeans, said Mr Peter Grieves-Smith, prosecuting, who added: "All that was taken was the phone that would have proved he went to the spot where he was murdered in answer to a call. We say that the phone from which it came belonged to Rai.
"He accepts that he had used it to contact the victim in the past.
"It defies belief that he lost the phone and the person who found it continued to contact the same person.
"We still await an explanation from Rai as to what happened to that phone."
The prosecutor said: "It was his phone and it is the key to the case.
"It was used as bait to tempt the victim out to be killed.
"The financial benefit to Rai is obvious.
"He claims that the victim was a good friend and suggests indifference to a debt of £14,000 but told a witness he was unhappy about it and knew people who could sort Bains out."
Mr Grieves-Smith said the victim had been lured late at night to a spot in Dartmouth Park, West Bromwich, which was not covered by CCTV and allegedly had his throat cut from behind with a knife that had never been found.
The prosecution claimed the fatal blow was delivered either by Rai or somebody acting on his behalf but experts were unable to say whether the death of Mr Bains had been homicide or suicide, the court heard.
Rai, from Salisbury Road, West Bromwich, denies the murder of Mr Bains between November 26 and November 29, 2012.
The trial continues.
