A man has been jailed for life for stabbing a father-of-three to death in a revenge attack in Southall.

Sanjay Salhorta, 26, of Clarence Street, Southall, was convicted of murdering 42 year old Harinder Rattan near his home on 4 January 2015.

On Thursday, 6 August, he was sentenced at the Old Bailey to life imprisonment to serve a minimum of 26 and a half years.

Mr Rattan, a Sikh delivery driver, was murdered due to an incident a fortnight earlier on 20 December 2014.

Mr Rattan was sitting in his car when a man in a hooded top opened the door and struck him in the face, demanding he get out.

When Mr Ratten retaliated by hitting the attacker with a crowbar, the attacker ran off.

That man was Sanjay Salhotra and his blood and DNA was found on the crowbar when it was forensically analysed following Mr Rattan's murder.

Two weeks later, Mr Rattan left his home at about 9.30pm to go to a local shop. He was found lying in the road with multiple stab wounds.

 

After the attack Salhorta hid in a nearby alleyway where he dropped the murder weapon. This was found by the police with Mr Ratten's DNA on it.

Salhorta then went to the house of Inderjit Bhachu, a friend ,who also lived in Clarence Street.

He changed clothes in the house before they drove to Staines where they burnt Salhorta's clothing.

Bhachu, 28, also of Clarence Street, was jailed for four years for perverting the course of justice.

Salhotra was arrested on January 5 and Bhachu was arrested the following day.

Det Ch Insp Simon Aswin of the Metropolitan Police said it was "Harinder Rattan was subjected to a brutal attack for nothing other than for Sanjay Salhotra to save face. Bhachu assisted in the disposing of evidence."

"I am pleased that the jury has found the two men guilty today, and they now face considerable prison sentences. I hope that this brings some sense of justice to Harinder Rattan's family."