Husband 'wanted wife dead so he could marry again'

Gurpreet Singh is on trial at Birmingham Crown Court

A businessman paid to have his first wife killed so he could marry again, a jury has heard.

Gurpreet Singh asked Heera Singh Uppal to kill Amandeep Kaur in 2013, Birmingham Crown Court was told.

Mr Singh, 43, is also accused of killing his second wife Sarbjit Kaur in Wolverhampton in February last year.

He denies the murder of Sarbjit Kaur and soliciting the murder of Amandeep Kaur.

The jury was told Mr Uppal and Mr Singh met in a barbershop to discuss ways of killing Ms Kaur, which included staging a robbery.

Mr Uppal, 27, told the court the plan had been to carry out the killing with "a big knife, like a sword".

He said the concrete company boss, who has two children from his first wife, told him: "I want to have my wife done".

Mr Uppal told the jury: "He did say he wanted to marry again and he said that he had found someone. He said, 'she's my girlfriend and she's a student'."

Sarbjit Kaur died of asphyxiation

Answering questions about the money offered, Mr Uppal said: "He was supposed to pay me £10,000 once his wife was murdered and £10,000 he would arrange to send to India".

A £2,000 advance payment was spent on "an iPhone and some clothes" but "there was no intention to carry out any murder", he said.

Birmingham Crown Court also heard that Mr Singh transferred £500 to Mr Uppal after he threatened to tell police about the plans.

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Sarbijt Kaur was found dead at the family home in Wolverhampton in February last year

Amandeep Kaur died of a brain haemorrhage in Punjab, India, in 2014, the court previously heard.

Sarbjit Kaur, 38, was found dead at the couple's home in Rookery Lane.

The case continues.