A murderer who dumped a mother's naked body next to a pile of rubbish was quickly seen through by a judge after receiving a letter about his crime. Tanveer Singh, from Leopard Lane, West Bromwich, brutally attacked Shara Millar in the back of his van after she refused his sexual demands.
He strangled and beat the 41-year-old before moving her body to the street and pouring AdBlue—an exhaust fluid used in diesel cars—over her in a sinister attempt to eliminate any traces of himself. Just before Singh, 32, was sentenced to life with a minimum of 29 years at Wolverhampton Crown Court on Wednesday, May 27, his defense lawyer handed the judge a letter from Singh.
The letter spoke of him accepting his crime and reflecting on it. Gurdeep Garcha KC, defending, said it partly read: 'I accept that I am guilty of murder.' Yet he had gone to trial denying the brutal murder, only receiving his punishment after jurors found him guilty following two weeks of evidence.
Judge Michael Chambers KC appeared severely unimpressed by the letter, remarking: 'I'm afraid, I'm not persuaded there is any genuine remorse in this case.' While Mr. Garcha insisted the letter was not a 'cynical ploy designed to impress the court,' Judge Chambers gave a chilling character assessment of Singh, saying he was 'clearly an intelligent young man, but a manipulative one.'
The court had heard how Shara had been funding a drug habit with sex work. Singh, who had been drinking alcohol and taking cocaine earlier that night, had picked her up on the street and driven her to an industrial estate so they could have sex. But after getting into the back of his van, Singh had choked her for several minutes. He then callously moved her body to Woodburn Road, Smethwick, and poured AdBlue over her before going to work the next day 'as if nothing had happened.'
The mother was left with an 'unusual number' of fractures to her neck, while injuries to her face and head were said to have been caused by 'heavy punches.' Sentencing, Judge Michael Chambers KC said the murder was 'both brutal and degrading.'
'I'm satisfied to the criminal standard, I'm sure, that she refused some particular sexual request, probably choking her for your sexual gratification, causing you to attack her and cause her extensive injuries to both her face and head, probably by heavy punches,' he said. 'Having done so, you then strangled her, deriving sexual pleasure from doing so.'
