Shopkeeper may have been hit with hammer

A SHOPKEEPER murdered in West Yorkshire was bludgeoned at least nine times, possibly with a hammer, as he tried to fend off the blows, police have revealed.

Gurmail Singh, 63, suffered massive head injuries during the raid on his convenience store in Cowcliffe, Huddersfield, on Saturday night.

The father-of-three was taken to Huddersfield Royal Infirmary but died in the early hours of Sunday.

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Police launched a murder inquiry and appealed for help in finding four hooded youths.

A witness described seeing two young men rifling through cigarettes and bottles. He pulled the door shut to keep them in and was showered with glass as the pair attacked the door with a hammer and a bottle in a desperate attempt to get out.

A group of people standing outside a nearby pub tackled two of the youths who ran from the back of Mr Singh's shop. One man rugby-tackled one suspect and another man tripped a second but all four got away.

A police spokesman said a post-mortem examination revealed Mr Singh died from severe head injuries inflicted by "repeated and multiple forceful blows from a heavy blunt instrument, likely to be a hammer".

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He said he suffered injuries to the top and back of his head and bruising on his hands as he tried to fend off the blows.

Angry members of the local community have launched a reward fund to help catch the killers and set up a bank account for people to contribute cash.

Billy Pickup, the landlord of the Shepherd's Arms pub, and Kevin Holmes, a pub regular, hope to encourage people to put their hands in their pockets.

Mr Pickup said: "Everybody has been shocked and saddened by what has happened.

"He was the nicest bloke you could wish to meet and if they can do it to him they can do it to anyone. We just want to do something to help.''