Magistrate jailed for telling friend he could make case against him 'disappear' for £45,000

A magistrate who told a businessman he would make a court case against him "disappear" in return for £45,000 was starting an 18-month jail sentence last night.

Balbir Singh Sandhu, 62, contacted his friend to warn him that, through his work as a magistrate, he had become aware of a "file" on investigations into the businessman's factory.

Birmingham Crown Court heard that Sandhu warned his friend a police inquiry into his alleged employment of illegal workers was likely to culminate in a prison sentence and a substantial fine.

Sandhu – a magistrate in Wolverhampton – told him the case had not yet been logged on court computer systems for a hearing. He added that he would make sure it never did in return for the financial reward.

Amjad Nawaz, prosecuting, told the court: "He had access to where the files were kept. He effectively said that he could make it disappear if he would pay him and his associates a sum of £45,000.

"The defendant was a magistrate and had been for six years. He knew the complainant and had done for a number of years."

Sandhu met the businessman at a Waitrose store in Wolverhampton in February last year to discuss the plan.

Arrangements continued in a series of telephone conversations, which the businessman, who is in his 50s, taped.

He took the recordings to police, who apprehended Sandhu the following month as he arrived for another meeting in his Mercedes.

In his car, they found a document which said the file had been destroyed.

Sandhu had pleaded guilty to fraud by way of making false representations with a view for personal gain at a previous court appearance.

Judge Robert Orme told him: "You had used and indeed abused the position of authority that you had."

The judge directed that a verdict of not guilty be entered on a second charge of blackmail.

When he was arrested, Sandhu, of Wolverhampton, told police he wanted to teach his victim a lesson and said he would never have taken the money, although he later admitted fraud.

Jas Mann, defending, said: "His stupidity involving himself in this escapade has cost him everything.

"He has lost his standing as a magistrate and also his standing in the community.

"He is doomed for the future to walk with his head bowed."

The court heard that Sandhu – a former bus driver – was also a respected religious teacher in his local Sikh temple.

Judge Orme told him: "Undoubtedly, you will no longer be a magistrate.

"Your good standing in the community has gone and your pride and dignity affected.

"Your fall from grace is likely to be all the greater because of the pedestal upon which the local community appear to have placed you."

Outside court, a source close to the case said there had never been a pending court case based on investigations into the businessman's activities.

Sandhu had made up the existence of the "file" to threaten his friend of 20 years' standing, the source claimed.