A judge in England has accused an illegal immigrant, who arrived in the country from Punjab in India, of lying about his age after he was linked to a violent assault during a robbery at a UK-based home improvement retailer last year.
The suspect, Karandeep Singh, was served a jail sentence of nearly five years after he remained absent for a trial at Reading crown court. He initially announced himself as an 18-year-old following an attack on a staff member at the store in Slough, Berkshire, requesting authorities to consider his crime as an impulsive act of immaturity at his young age.
The illegal immigrant from Punjab didn’t act alone
Singh wasn’t the only one to leave the Wickes employee with a head wound on May 25, 2023. According to the Daily Mail, 34-year-old Satwant Singh was also involved in the assault, which they executed to steal spirit levels from the hardware store.
Staffer Morgan Duffy grew suspicious of the two men at the store in Farnham Road and called them out after Satwant Singh picked up a spirit level. He initially said that he was going to pay for it.
However, he later simply exited the store without following through with his claims. As Duffy tried to retrieve the item from Satwant, the latter forcefully pulled him outside.
Thereafter, Karandeep struck the employee’s head with the spirit level. Judge Sarah Jane Campbell detailed Duffy’s injuries: “As a result, Mr Duff was caused a 9cm wound to his head which had to be glued and he had to go to A&E.”
She also highlighted that since the attack, fear had taken over other staffers at the store who became “wary about coming into work.”
Indian-origin perpetrator lied about his age
Despite Karandeep’s previous claims about his age, he also revealed that he has a 5-year-old child. While sentencing the defendant, Judge Campbel said, “He does have three alias birthdays on the Police National Computer and he looks to me a little bit older than 19, I have to say.”
“One of the alias birthdays places him as being five years older, which perhaps fit a little bit more with his appearance,” the judge told his defence lawyer, Tobias Smith. He, in turn, stated that his client has urged him to mention his birth year as 2005, adding, “Some people physically mature at different rates.”
Foregrounding Karandeep’s “no status in the UK,” the judge noted that he “arrived four months previous to the incident.”
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Charges against Karandeep Singh
A trial was scheduled for October 1, 2024. Karandeep failed to be in attendance that day. He was convicted despite sitting out the hearing.
Even after he was arrested on a warrant, he denied he was the same man who attacked the Wickes worker. Ultimately, the court countered his “continued effort to attempt to evade justice” by gathering fingerprint evidence.
This week, Karandeep was convicted of robbery and section 20 grievously bodily harm. He has been sentenced to four years, eight months and 14 days in prison. On the other hand, his co-defendant, Satwant Singh, was convicted of robbery only. He has been jailed for three years and eight months.
According to Judge Capmbell’s remarks in the court, the defendant came to the UK to build a better life for himself. He also intended to bring his wife and son, 5, to the UK.
Contrary to his supposed homely and family-driven plans, he ended up being “homeless for the entire time in the UK, up until when he was bailed to a bail hostel.”