Mundill Mahil Gagandip Singh
Mundill Mahill and Gagandip Singh BBC

A woman who tricked a man into meeting her before he was beaten, tied up and burned alive, has been sentenced to six years in prison.

Mundill Mahil, 20, was cleared of murder but convicted of GBH with intent after luring Gagandip Singh into a trap in revenge for him him trying to force himself on her.

He was ambushed and beaten by her "gangster friends", Harvinder Shoker and Darren Peters, who left him to die in a burning car, a court heard.

Mahil was sentenced after a two-month trial at the Old Bailey. Shoker was found guilty of murder and faces at least 22 years in jail. Peters was sentenced to 12 years for manslaughter.

A devout Sikh who does not believe in sex before marriage, Mahil wanted to see Singh, 21, taught a lesson when she invited him to her home last February.

Singh, a Sikh TV entrepreneur, was in love with Mahil and had given her £12,000 to pay for her tuition fees at Brighton University, the trial heard.

He arrived at her student accommodation where he was set upon by her "hired muscle", Shoker and his schoolmate Peters.

Mahil had led Singh to her bedroom, where the pair were hiding. They pounced on Singh, beating him about the head and tying him up with phone charger cables.

They wrapped him up in a duvet and stuffed him into the boot of his sister's car. The car was driven to Blackheath in southeast London, doused in petrol and set alight.

Singh was killed by toxic fumes from the fire. He was found with major burns across his body and serious head injuries.

During the trial Michael Birnbaum QC, for Mahil, had stressed that she had not intended to see Singh harmed but merely wanted to scare him.

"She is horrified by the killing and she is still trying to come to terms with it," he told the jury. "She maintains she had no intention for him to be killed or even suffer serious harm."

Singh and Mahil had become close in 2009 after meeting in Woolwich temple, spending a lot of time together as she helped him cope with the loss of his father in a drive-by shooting in India.

She claimed that Singh crossed the line in August 2010 when he stayed with her while she was revising for her exams, climbing into her bed and trying to force himself on her.

Prosecuting, Aftab Jafferjee QC claimed Singh's death was brought about by "deep-seated hostility" and a need for vengeance. Shoker was infatuated with her too, he said.

"Ravi [Shoker] almost certainly had his own agenda - and it was not that of a righteous crusader to protect a young woman's virtue," he said.

"Being infatuated by Mahil, he was more than willing to rid her of Gagandip and as a consequence he would expect Mahil to be forever indebted to him."