Shocking death of a gentle man: Hear Gurmail Singh 999 call

To his killers, Muawaz Khalid and Nabeel Shafi, who battered him with bottles during a violent robbery, Mr Singh was simply an easy target – a 63-year-old man, only 5ft 4in, who worked behind the counter of a small corner shop in Huddersfield.

To the residents of Cowcliffe, he was a local hero – the friendly face whose determination had transformed a run-down convenience store into the heartbeat of the community after their post office closed.

Anxious not to jeopardise the murder trial in any way, Mr Singh's family have kept a dignified silence and focused their energies on reopening the shop.

But Mr Singh's neighbours and prominent Sikhs have spoken fondly of how he always helped them in times of need, whether by delivering milk, bread and newspapers by sledge to house-bound customers in heavy snow or helping community projects.

His funeral at the Sikh temple in Prospect Street, Springwood, was attended by almost 2,000 people from all faiths.

"There were so many people showing their respects, " Cowcliffe resident Neil Shuttleworth said, "and it was a great example of what service, friendship and warmth can do".

Few would have predicted such a turnout when Mr Singh came to Yorkshire from Littar, in the Punjab region of north-west India, as a 16-year-old in 1963.

All but penniless, he joined his father and elder brother in working long shifts at a drainage pipe company in Hepworth.

He married Mohinder Kaur, who had come to Huddersfield independently from the Punjab, in September 1969 and they had two sons and a daughter.

The family became prominent within the Sikh community, helping to raise funds for a Sikh Leisure Centre, which opened in 1991.

Its chief executive, Balbir Singh Uppal, a friend of more than 30 years, said: "When this place opened, a lot of people in the community could feel proud because they helped its construction by helping to fundraise for it.

"Gurmail's father was instrumental in that and he and, later on, Gurmail were instrumental in developing the centre.

"Gurmail was the kind of person who everybody knew. He was always well spoken, friendly and pleasant to everyone.

"You get some people who are naturally argumentative but there was none of that with Gurmail and that's why he was liked by so many. We can't imagine him saying a bad word even to the people who came to rob the shop. He was not a violent man whatsoever.

"There were services held for him not only in the Sikh temple, but also in churches and mosques. He was just a wonderful individual and it will be a long, long time before the community forgets about this."

As Mr Singh's family grew - he had 18 grandchildren, all with degrees – he embraced English culture whole-heartedly, growing to love Yorkshire food and enjoying Guinness.

He was passionate about football and started a team, the Indian Stars. He managed the club as well as playing for it, and used to drive the players to matches.

He supported Liverpool and watched games at Anfield but he took most pleasure from taking his sons and grandsons to a local youth football club, the Yorkshire Lions, whose under-14 team will soon play in shirts bearing his name.

He managed all these activities while working long hours, and the shifts got longer in August 2003, when he paid 55,000 for the freehold of Cowcliffe Convenience Stores.

It had been boarded up for two years but he refurbished it and, within six months, it was open from 6am to 9pm.

Christine Kinder, who ran the nearby Netheroyd Hill post office, said Mr Singh's shop provided a lifeline for the community after her business closed.

"The shop had struggled in the past, " she said, "but the Singh family made it work because they were so friendly.

"If I was going away for two days, I wouldn't bother cancelling my paper but there would only ever be one newspaper on the doormat when I returned home.

"Gurmail would notice that my car wasn't there and would keep the other papers in the shop for me until I got back. Instead of putting the paper through the letterbox, he would keep a lookout on the house for me.

"During the really bad weather, he was walking out there with sledges and delivering bread and milk to people."

Another neighbour, Bob Swan, 78, said: "I live on my own, but I used to go to the shop every day to pick up a newspaper.

"Often the first person I spoke to each day was Gurmail. My brother-in-law is not all that mobile and for about six weeks last year he was more or less cut off because of the snow but Gurmail brought him milk, food and papers."

Inderpal Randhawa, general secretary of the Sikh Temple Committee and a shopkeeper, himself said Mr Singh was "a very religious person and a very friendly person". He added: "Work hard, pray for God and respect each other. Those are the teachings from our Gurus, and Gurmail followed them to the letter."

He went on: "He was very close to his local community and the residents loved him.

"He opened doors for everybody when he was alive and his death has brought everyone closer together."

WHEN Gurmail Singh died on February 20 this year, it was the second time in three days his shop was targeted by robbers.

Only 48 hours before the fatal raid, Mr Singh was punched and had his turban knocked off by two youths wearing masks, gloves and hooded jackets.

One was a 17-year-old A-level student, who could not be named for legal reasons when he was sentenced to six months' detention for robbery in April.

The other attacker remains at large, although a third youth, 18-year-old Spencer Julien, of North Rise, Fartown, Huddersfield, was given a 12-month referral order last month after admitting planning the robbery.

Although Mr Singh was the victim on both occasions, the raids do not appear to have been linked.

Shopkeepers in Huddersfield have responded by drawing up a petition, calling on the Government to impose tougher sentences and to provide greater support and protection for retailers.

Thousands of people have signed the petition, which organisers intend to present to David Cameron.

Balbir Singh Uppal, who started the campaign, said: "There are lots of shopkeepers from the Asian community and, if it could happen to Gurmail, it could happen to anybody.

"Not all people are as passive as he was; he was the last person you would expect to retaliate in a situation like that.

"But anybody in the business would say they have to continue. If one gets deterred by an incident like that, it is in some ways encouraging more."

Inderpal Randhawa, a friend of Mr Singh's and general secretary of Huddersfield's Sikh Temple Committee, said police had been slow to respond to incidents at his Manchester Road shop.

"Eight years ago, a boy and a girl came into my shop during the daytime and, suddenly, the boy pulled out a two-foot knife and the girl produced some sticks. I was there with my son, who was seven or eight, and the boy asked me to give him the money from the till.

"I confronted the boy and asked my son to get me a knife. He came back with a two-inch knife for chopping vegetables, which was useless, but the robbers ran off.

"The police took half an hour to come to my shop, which was very late for something that serious, and although they eventually found the people, I never heard anything about what happened to them.

"Less than two years ago, a boy came in and beat my paperboy. When I went to stop him, he started fighting with me. A customer helped me and we were able to keep the boy in the shop while we rang the police.

"It took 35 minutes for the police to arrive. During that time, the customer couldn't leave the front of the shop in case the boy escaped, and I couldn't serve anyone."

Kirklees Council and West Yorkshire Police joined forces earlier this year to set up a hotline for retailers.

Yorkshire Independent Grocers' Association chairman Andrew Wilby said: "These people are community servants looking after the interests of the public and they're faced with all sorts of risks.

"They pay their dues, their business rates and their other taxes and it's time that the Government looked after them."