Two men accused of the murder of a Lillington woman have appeared in court via video link

Two men accused of the murder of a woman who died after suffering a serious head injury at a house in Lillington have both been remanded in custody.

Jasbinder Singh Gahir and Rohan Singh Gahir appeared at Warwick Crown Court over a video link from prison charged with the murder of 54-year-old Balvinder Gahir.

The charge follows an incident at an address in Valley Road, Lillington, in the early hours of August 24.

The police and an ambulance were called to the house where Mrs Gahir, the ex-wife of Jasbinder Gahir, was found to be suffering from a serious head injury.

Officers who were the first to arrive tried to administer CPR, but she was pronounced dead at the scene.

Judge Andrew Lockhart QC observed that two other people were also named in the case papers.

Philip Bradley QC, prosecuting, said he would need ‘an early consultation’ with the Crown Prosecution Service about them.

And he commented: “With the best will in the world, it would be difficult, assuming there are no guilty indications, to set a trial date, because it would be difficult to give a time estimate at this date.”

But Judge Lockhart said: “However, I think I am going to seek a trial date. This is currently a case that, it seems to me, should get a listing in the early part of the New Year.”

And, in the light of the current problem of the number of people who can be in the court dock, he urged the prosecution to consider how many people it wants tried together on the murder indictment.

Told that the custody time limit, the period of time a defendant can normally be held in custody before standing trial, expires on February 25, the judge said a trial date could not be set at the moment.

And setting October 2 for a plea and trial preparation hearing, Judge Lockhart said: “Consideration will be given for a [trial] listing within the custody time limit, but I can’t guarantee that, of course.”

Of the October 2 hearing, he added: “I would like a decision as to the number of accused to be made by that date. If others are to be charged, you need to get on with it.”

No bail application was made for either man, so both Jasbinder (57) and Rohan (23) both of Church View, Maidenhead, were remanded in custody until the next hearing.

Rebecca Wade, for Jasbinder, said a psychiatric report was being commissioned on him, and Judge Lockhart, who observed that Jasbinder’s case was that ‘he says he was not there,’ said that should be served by early November.