Wolverhampton Diwali murder trial: Accused driver grilled over police interview lies

Jashan Singh, aged 21, also known as Jashanpreet Singh, is accused of deliberately knocking down Navpreet Singh and twice driving over him after violence broke out in Phoenix Park off Dudley Road in Blakenhall on October 22 last year.

Under cross-examination at Wolverhampton Crown Court on Thursday, in response to questions by prosecutor Tim Hannam KC the defendant at first repeatedly said he was telling the truth about what happened in the car park.

Mr Hannam put to him that in the first of his three police interviews that he accepted he was at the park, but denied running over the alleged victim, claiming he had been the aggressor and that he did not see how the disorder ended. And that Navpreet was on his feet at that point.

Singh, of Cannock Road in Westcroft said: “That is the truth.”

Mr Hannam said: “Navpreet was not standing up. He was lying underneath your car.”

“You were told by the police that Navpreet’s hair was found under your car. Why did you decide to lie?”

Singh replied: “I didn’t know what else to say. I’d never been in that position before.”

He told the jury some of the police questions were not asked until he was interviewed a third time by officers. He said that at one stage a statement had been taken from him over a poor prison video link and that he did not get a copy of it to read until the start of the trial on October 29.

He also said he followed the advice of his solicitor when he answered the officers’ questions in relation to the incident.

The defendant also said he left the scene due to being “scared” of Navpreet Singh’s group. The jury previously heard that Jashan Singh left the park, ran a red light at the Fighting Cocks junction and sped away from the vicinity. Meanwhile Navpreet’s distressed friends did not follow the defendant. They put the father-to-be in a hatchback and drove him straight to New Cross Hospital where he died in a waiting room without regaining consciousness.

Jashan Singh previously told the trial he felt a 'bump' in the car, but thought he had driven over a firework box.

He denies murdering Navpreet Singh and an alternative count of causing his death by dangerous driving. Co-defendant Mohit Singh, of Tangmere Close in Ettingshall, denies violent disorder in relation to the fighting.

The incident happened after a Diwali show held to mark the traditional Indian festival of light.

The trial continues.