3 men convicted of 'ruthless' murder of Indian-origin jeweller in UK

Three men have been found guilty of kidnapping and ruthlessly killing a 74yearold Indianorigin jeweller in the UKs Leicester city earlier this year Ramniklal Jogiya had gone missing as he walked home from his store on the citys famous Golden Mile of jewellery shops and was later found dead in a lane nearby triggering a murder investigation by Leicestershire PoliceFollowing a fiveweek trial that ended at Birmingham Crown Court on Wednesday Thomas Jervis 24 and Charles Frances Mcauley 20 were found guilty of murder A third member of the gang 20yearold Callan Reeve was found guilty of manslaughter All three had denied killing Jogiya and pleaded guilty to kidnap and robberyRarely have I investigated a crime so wicked and ruthless The depravity inhumanity and utter contempt they showed for their victim has caused untold anguish for his family and stunned the whole community said Detective Chief Inspector David SwiftRollinson from Leicestershire Police who led the murder investigation The only possible comfort left for the family is that the people responsible for this terrible crime will now be locked up for a very long time he saidThe court heard how the gang had spent weeks planning to rob a safe at Jogiyas jewellery shop on Belgrave Road On the evening of January 24 they kidnapped him as he walked home having locked up his shop for the night After bundling him into a stolen van they launched a horrific attack forcing him to hand over the keys to his shop and torturing him until he told them the shops alarm deactivation code and critically the combination code for a safe But despite their meticulous planning they had not realised the safe was on a 12hour delay and they could not get into itThe terrified jeweller was then dumped and left to die alone in the middle of the countryside said the police who described the attack on the jeweller as horrific and brutal All three gang members have been remanded into custody and will be sentenced on September 10 A fourth suspect 30yearold Javon Roach was acquitted of kidnap robbery and murder At around 745 pm on the evening of January 24 Jogiya locked up his jewellers shop in Belgrave Road and as he did every night set off on his short walk home But he did not arrive and by 8pm his family knew something was wrong Having visited the shop phoned his mobile phone and made other enquiries the family raised the alarm and a major investigation was launched Tragically around 10 am the following morning the body of the loving husband and devoted father of three was found beside Leicester AirfieldWhat had begun as a missing person inquiry immediately became a murder investigation Jogiya had suffered a total of 27 injuries including broken ribs wounds to his face hands and arms and had died from a major brain injury caused by a severe assault to his head In short he had been beaten to death During the sixmonth investigation officers found CCTV images of Jogiya locking up the jewellers and beginning his walk home Other images showed three men jumping out of a white transit van and bundling the terrified shopkeeper into the vehicle Further images showed that about 50 minutes later a man dressed in a burqa and pulling a shopping trolley entered Jogiyas shopThis person was seen to deactivate the shop alarm go to the back of the shop where Jogiya kept a safe before emerging a little time later seemingly emptyhanded DCI SwiftRollinson said These men had planned to kidnap and rob Mr Jogiya but it went tragically wrong They launched a sustained and ferocious attack on Mr Jogiya which ultimately killed him Mr Jogiyas safe was set with a 12hour delay every night when he went home and even with the right combination code noone could have accessed it until 12 hours later Realising they could not get access to the Asian gold he kept in the safe the gang drove away from the scene emptyhanded throwing their victims phone out of the window in the countrysideAt some point they decided to dump Mr Jogiya in the middle of the open countryside knowing he was a long way from help Although he was still alive at this point the injuries he had suffered were so severe that he could not be saved He described the jeweller as a kind gentle and devoted family man who fell victim to the savage beating of a defenceless elderly man who was left to die He added It almost defies words what they did to him My thoughts first and foremost remain with Mr Jogiyas familyI thank them for their cooperation and patience with the investigation team and I cannot praise more highly the dignity they have shown throughout this nightmare I can only hope that the verdicts of the jury will bring them some small solace The police chief reached out to the wider community of jewellers from Belgrave Road mostly of Indian origin for their help with the truly shocking incident which had an awful impact on the cityCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and 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