Untitled design (23)

Gurdeep Garcha K.C. defends man for asylum seeker hotel murder

Gurdeep Garcha K.C. is defending a 19-year-old man who is standing trial at Wolverhampton Crown Court accused of the murder of a 27-year-old woman who worked at a hotel which provided accommodation for asylum seekers.

The defendant is an asylum seeker, originally from Sudan. He had been staying at the Park Inn Hotel, Walsall, for several months. 

The deceased had worked at that hotel for a similar period. It is the prosecution case that in October 2024, having finished her shift just after 11p.m., she was followed by the defendant as she walked to the nearby Bescot Railway Station. There, whilst on the platform, she was attacked with a screwdriver in a vicious and frenzied manner; leaving her fatally wounded. Tragically, she died in hospital 3 days later. 

The defendant denies that he is the assailant and asserts that he has been wrongly identified. 

The trial is expected to last two weeks and will be heard by a High Court Judge.

Mr Garcha KC is instructed by Lalli and Co Solicitors, 4 Moat Road, Walsall, WS2 9PJ Tel 01922 613322

The case has attracted widespread publicity, both locally and nationally. Some links to the case can be found below:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14022895/sister-stabbed-death-job-asylum-seeker-hotel.html

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/oct/31/rhiannon-whyte-sister-speaks-out-hotel-worker-walsall-station

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c62qrzryr6eo

Downloads

Witness Familiarisation Support And Courses

These are a few examples of courses in which our members have been involved:

  • Witness familiarisation with trainee police officers and special constables from Northamptonshire Police, where the officers were questioned regarding their statements about ‘mock’ arrest exercises
  • Similar exercises with detectives from the West Midlands Police
  • Witness familiarisation with officers of the Northamptonshire Probation Service.  These officers were given training on the process of giving evidence in sentencing hearings in the Magistrates Court and Crown Court
  • Expert witness familiarisation and training, with expert witnesses such as independent Forensic Scientists, and officers of the Health and Safety Executive. The exercises involved questioning regarding expert reports prepared by the participants

Equal Opportunity Policy

 

Citadel’s members come from a range of backgrounds and everyone is treated with the same respect as part of our Chamber’s community. 

 

We operate an equal opportunity policy and act in accordance with the Bar Code of Conduct and the Equality Code for the Bar.

 

We seek to prevent direct or indirect discrimination towards our clients, staff, tenants and pupils, on the grounds of race, colour, ethnic or national origin, nationality or citizenship, political persuasion, religion, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, disability or age.

Maternity / Paternity Policy

We support all members  who  are fortunate enough to become parents.   Whilst Citadel has written policies dealing with issues of maternity and paternity leave for members of Chambers and support staff, we also try to be flexible in our approach and to accommodate individual needs.

Uniquely (to our knowledge) we offer direct financial support to members returning from parental leave in order to cushion the cash flow impact of return to practice . 

Click here to listen to a podcast about our members with children and how we deal with childcare issues.