Two men are starting long custodial sentences for causing the death of a frail 81-year-old woman they gagged after tricking their way into her Birmingham home.
Mohinder Kaur suffocated after the raiders wound tape around her head eleven times before ransacking her flat in Kings Heath where the widow lived alone.
Mohammed Iftab, 20, of Sutherland Street, Aston was sent to a young offenders institution for nine-and-a-half years and Waseem Shabir, 22, of Dolman Road, Aston, was jailed for seven years. Both pleaded guilty to manslaughter and Iftab admitted conspiracy to rob.
Judge Melbourne Inman Qc said: “On Thursday August 23 last year the two of you planned and committed a robbery. You obviously heard the victim had jewellery and money. You knew she was elderly and lived alone. With that knowledge you decided to attack her. You forced her to the floor and one held her while the other took the roll of duct tape and used it upon her. It would have been virtually impossible for anybody to remove that with their hands by pulling at it. It obviously created a problem for breathing.”
One of the victim’s sons, Santogh Singh, paid tribute to his mother, a widow with six children, saying: “She was a respected person and very well known in the community. She was one of the elders. She used to walk around with her stick and was still quite active. We would have liked a bit more with the sentences but we are happy really. Hopefully we can turn a new page now and carry on with our lives. It is greed in the world. Some people are never satisfied.”
Timothy Mouseley QC, prosecuting at Birmingham Crown Court, said the victim lived in a first-floor flat in Nutsgrove Close and on the day of the attack the robbers bought adhesive tape from a DIY store.
