This is the face of a serial criminal who burgled one of his neighbours on Birmingham’s Benefits Street. Harminder Singh broke into the home of a family of seven while they were sleeping on James Turner Street in Winson Green, a show made famous by Channel 4 in 2014. Neither he nor the victims were in the show.
Singh, 44, who has committed nearly 170 crimes in his life, stole a PlayStation 5 from the property. He claimed he later heard children in the house crying over the loss and that he “couldn’t live with the consequences”. However, he quickly sold the games console for a quick profit.
But Singh made a grave mistake by dropping a Nokia phone with its torch on inside the house. Minutes after fleeing the address, he returned to retrieve it and told the family it had been stolen, along with two laptops.
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When they realised with horror that it was the real burglar, they locked him inside until the police arrived. Singh, who lived in a care home further away on James Turner Street, admitted the burglary and was sentenced to 27 months in prison at Birmingham Crown Court on Wednesday (July 17).
The break-in took place in the early hours of May 14. One of the male occupants woke up after hearing someone moving furniture in the living room.
He then noticed the front door was open and found the Nokia phone on the floor. Prosecutor Maninder Chaggar said: “About five minutes later the defendant attended the address and told the family that he had been robbed of two laptops and a mobile phone.”
She said the family initially felt sorry for Singh and let him in. Ms Chaggar continued: “He comes straight into the front room and starts looking around at the floor where the phone had been found. [The occupant] realizes that it might well be the burglar.
“He asked his son to lock the front door and call the police. A few minutes later, the police arrived. He managed to keep the defendant in his property.”
Singh maintained his lie to police, claiming he had seen a masked culprit steal his belongings and had “assumed” they were black. He has 68 previous convictions for 168 offences, including 70 theft offences, although this was his first burglary.
Singh also violated court orders 24 times. Defence lawyer Ragveer Chand told the court that his client had recently become a father for the first time. He said: “In becoming a father for the first time, this accused is determined to put his past behind him. Sometimes these life-changing events can be the catalyst for people to put their past behind them.”
“The defendant’s instructions are that, having heard the children crying while he was outside the address, he simply could not live with the consequences of being deprived of the PS5. There is perhaps a degree of scepticism because the court knows it has not been recovered.”
Judge Avik Mukherjee said Singh’s first burglary was a “significant change” and an “escalation” in his offending. He also questioned his claim that he was prepared to change his ways, saying: “Your partner must have been pregnant in March, April and May, which didn’t stop you from realising that this was a life you had to leave behind for your newborn baby.
“However, if it’s something that’s going to convince you that this is a road that has to end, it bodes well for the future.”
