Three extra jailed over enormous Sikh gang ‘medieval battle’ that led to brutal broad daylight assassination of DPD driver

Three men have been jailed over their roles in a machete and gun brawl at a Kabaddi tournament that led to the shocking execution of a DPD driver the following day.

Chaos erupted at the international sports event in Alvaston, Derby, when two rival groups armed themselves with blades and at least six firearms, before a ‘pre-planned and organised’ mass fight broke out in front of hundreds of horrified families.

The scenes were later compared to a ‘medieval battle’. 

Police raced to the incident following reports of shots being fired as the mobs confronted each other in August 2023.

Footage captured one of the defendants, Boota Singh, chasing other men as part of a group. Although the 35-year-old was unarmed during the melee, officers later pulled over his car and found two machetes stashed in the boot.

Meanwhile, Damanjit Singh, 35, and Rajvinder Takhar Singh, 42, were both seen brandishing large knives as the violence erupted.

All three men denied wrongdoing, but a jury at Derby Crown Court found them guilty after a trial last month.

Seven men have already been jailed following an earlier trial into the incident, which concluded in 2024.

Father-of-two Boota Singh, 35, who was convicted of violent disorder, having already admitted possessing an offensive weapon at the start of proceedings, was jailed today for a total of four years.

Damanjit Singh was handed prison sentences adding up in total to three years and four months after being convicted in his absence of violent disorder and possession of a bladed article.

Rajvinder Takhar Singh, 42, was found guilty of violent disorder and possessing an offensive weapon. He was sent to prison for a total of three years and 10 months.

Judge Jonathan Bennett, sentencing, said: ‘This was undoubted planned violence, and not a case of two groups falling out and spontaneous violence breaking out.

‘Many of the participants travelled long distances, and brought weapons to the scene. Most have families and are employed, yet travelled to take part in organised violence in front of a huge crowd of families.’

He told Boota Singh and Rajvinder Takhar Singh, who listened via videolink from prison, that the trouble involved around 40 men, six firearms and led to four people requiring hospital treatment.

The judge added: ‘It is only due to good fortune that no fatalities occurred.

‘The cause of the incident remains unknown. No defendant has chosen to explain this. There has been a conspiracy of silence as the origin among the defendants.’

The judge said that a defendant in the earlier trial had told police: ‘All I know is it involves “Izzat” – honour. I did not question it. I felt justified to get involved’.

He told Boota Singh that he played a ‘significant role in this shocking incident’ and was ‘inextricably linked with machetes’ in the case.

Claire Fraser, prosecuting, said the three men being sentenced today were all ‘active’ participants in what took place, and attended a ‘pre-meet’ at a local community centre.

She told the court: ‘On August 20 2023, over 1,000 people gathered to watch a Kabaddi tournament in Derby, and present were children and families.

‘At around 4pm, police received calls reporting shots had been fired.

‘It could be seen from the footage that there was a large-scale disorder between two groups, both sides armed with guns, machetes and blades. It was pre-planned.

‘The reason for the disorder remains unknown. All defendants participated in the organised violence. A pre-meet had been organised by Boota Singh prior to the attendance at the Kabaddi event.’

Ms Fraser said Boota Singh, who owns a building firm, carried out a ‘leading role’ in the trouble, and was at the front of a group that confronted other men at the event before later disposing of weapons and clothing – and encouraging his partner to hide machetes.

She added Rajvinder Singh was at the ‘front and centre’ of the violence, while Damanjit Singh – who is still absent – encouraged others to leave the pre-meet, wore a scarf over his face, and carried a bladed weapon throughout.

The hearing was told Boota Singh, of Derby, and Rajvinder Takhar Singh, of Huddersfield, are both British citizens, with Indian passport holder Damanjit, of Tipton, in the UK as part of the ‘Leave to Remain’ scheme. 

Judge Bennett said he could now be facing deportation, with the issue ‘ultimately a matter for the Secretary of State’.

Detective Inspector Chris Barker, of Derbys Police, said: ‘These men deliberately armed themselves with weapons at this event, which should have been a fun family friendly sporting tournament.

‘However their actions and the levels of violence demonstrated on this day meant that it instead turned into a huge violent disorder which left multiple people injured and many people fearing for their safety.’

Detective Constable Stevie Barker, who led the investigation, said: ‘The mindless violence displayed by these men on this day completely ruined what should have been a fun sporting event.’

The Derby brawl marked one of several flashpoints in a long-running feud between groups of young men of Indian heritage – hostilities that culminated in the murder of 23-year-old DPD driver Aurman Singh just 24 hours later.

Aurman, who was born in Italy and understood to be of Indian Sikh heritage, lived in Smethwick with his mother and younger sister.

Although Derbyshire Police had not marked him as a suspect in any disorder, his killers are believed to have identified him from footage circulating on social media.

On the morning of his murder, Aurman left home for his depot in Stoke-on-Trent, unaware a colleague – Sukhmandeep Singh, 24 – had leaked his delivery route to the gang.

Mehakdeep Singh, 24, who had been at the Kabaddi event, and 26-year-old Sehajpal Singh drove to Shrewsbury in a white Mercedes, accompanied by Harpreet Singh and Harwinder Singh Turna, who remain at large.

Following behind in a grey Audi were four others: Arshdeep Singh, 24, Jagdeep Singh, 23, Shivdeep Singh, 27, and Manjot Singh, 24.

The group, which was armed with weapons including an axe, a knife, a shovel and a hockey stick, hunted Aurman through Shrewsbury before ambushing him at Coton Hill in the town at around 1pm. His injuries were so catastrophic that he died at the scene, while his killers fled before later being arrested.

In April last year, Arshdeep Singh, of Tipton, Jagdeep Singh, of Dudley, and Shivdeep Singh and Manjot Singh, both of Smethwick, were sentenced to life in prison with a minimum of 28 years each for Aurman’s murder.

Sukhmandeep Singh, of Peterborough, was convicted of manslaughter at the same time and sentenced to 10 years in prison.

This April, Mehakdeep Singh and Sehajpal Singh, both of Tipton, were also convicted of murder and jailed for life with minimum terms of 28 years before they can be considered for release.