Radio presenter attempted murder trial: Jaspal Singh gives evidence for third day about Harnik Singh attack

A prisoner who admitted taking part in the ambush and stabbing attack on controversial radio broadcaster Harnik Singh took the witness stand again today, as lawyers for his former defendants took turns attacking his credibility.

Jaspal Singh, 42, has been giving evidence in the High Court in Auckland since Thursday. The bulk of the first two days of his testimony consisted of his indisputable account of what happened during and before the politically motivated attempted murder on December 23, 2020.

He told jurors that he and others were recruited to attack the radio presenter by a defendant whose name he concealed. But defense attorney Dale Doty, acting on behalf of the man whose name was redacted, suggested during cross-examination that the witness was lying in an attempt to get out of prison as soon as possible.

“Your evidence implicating (the defendant, name withheld) over the last two days is nothing but a lie, isn’t it,” Doty quipped, eliciting a “no” from the witness.

“My knife fell out. My DNA was in there. I’m done,” the witness said of his decision to plead guilty and cooperate with police.

Doty noted that the man admitted to his misdeeds “only because you had to.”

“Well, I think the rest should be like that,” Jaspal Singh replied. “I’ve been in prison for almost two years. I’m doing my duty.”

Prosecutors allege that seven men committed attempted murder by either planning the attack, directly participating in it, or providing aid and encouragement. The victim suffered dozens of stab wounds but miraculously survived after being hit by his red car as he pulled into the driveway of his home on Wattle Downs. An eighth man has been charged as an accessory after the fact.

Three of the men pleaded guilty, including witness Jaspal Singh, the first to do so. Co-accused Hardeep Singh Sandhu, 30, and Saravjit Sidhu, 27, followed suit late last month – on the eve of the current trial.

The remaining defendants, who have all pleaded not guilty, include Jobanpreet Singh, who is accused of direct participation in the attack along with the witness; Gajraj Singh and Gurbinder Singh, who allegedly followed the radio announcer in a Toyota Prius and offered encouragement or support to the attackers; The man whose name is being withheld allegedly orchestrated the attempted hit; and Supreet Singh, who allegedly welcomed two of the bloody attackers to his home to clean up after the incident.

Defense attorney Doty noted during cross-examination that the witness was prone to a violent temperament on his own – without needing to be influenced by others. He noted that mobile polling data made it difficult to comprehend certain aspects of the witness’s account. For example, his phone near the home of the man whose name was redacted in the week before the attack did not ring, even though Jaspal Singh said he met the man there when he was first recruited to take part.

The witness said that during that meeting he got the impression that he would act as a getaway driver for two men on a stolen motorcycle who would stop near the radio announcer’s car and open fire. But on the day of the attack, he said the plan changed dramatically and he learned that he would be directly involved in the attack.

“Seems a bit silly, doesn’t it, that plan?” Doty said of the motorcycle shooting the witness described.

“Ask your client. He made it up,” the witness replied dryly.

“No, you made it up,” Doughty said, later adding: “You were not acting under him, this is something you did yourself.”

The witness replied: “No, that’s not true.” “But yes, I did.”

Lawyers for three of the five accused currently on trial have questioned the witness so far, and each of them pointed out that Jaspal Singh got a huge discount on his sentence because he cooperated with the police. With the discount, he will soon be available for parole.

Jaspal Singh said every time this topic came up that he could not be blamed for having a good lawyer.

“He got the best possible result for me because I said I did it,” he said.

Attorney Katie Hogan, who represents the man accused of being an accessory after the fact, noted that the witness had 32 criminal convictions, including lying to police. The witness told jurors on Friday that her client, Sukhpreet Singh, was allowed to hide his SUV in his garage after the attack but the vehicle did not fit and he accidentally punched a hole in the man’s wall.

The witness laughed today when it was said that he knew about the hole before the attack, and that he mentioned it to the police to make his false allegation against Sukhpreet Singh seem more plausible.

“Were you the ringleader and the main culprit in this attack against Harnik?” she asked.

He replied: “No, I was not the leader of the gang.”

“Involving others and bringing them down with you alleviates your guilt,” Hogan suggested. “I was angered at receiving what I perceived as a lack of support after you were charged and detained.”

The witness also denied those suggestions.

Jaspal Singh’s testimony is expected to extend into a fourth day when the trial resumes tomorrow before Judge Mark Wolford and the jury.

Craig Capitan is an Auckland-based journalist covering courts and justice. He joined the Herald in 2021 and has reported on the courts since 2002 in three newsrooms in the US and New Zealand.