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00:08This was a cold and calculated murder.
00:16There's always a breaking point in an investigation.
00:24The timeline of events didn't add up.
00:32It was crucial we supported our family contact.
00:48This case is really all about an innocent woman asking for her freedom, asking to move on
00:58with her life and being killed off for making that choice.
01:04A female that had obviously been tricked to go to India, five and a half thousand miles
01:09away.
01:11At the heart of this was a young woman whose life had been cruelly taken by people who
01:16felt they had the right to do that.
01:17There's a phrase which I find chilling to this day, which was every day I felt terror,
01:27in fear for my life.
01:32I was asked by my SIO, Clive Driscoll, to accompany him to meet a family.
01:39I would eventually become the family liaison officer working with their daughter, Subjit
01:46Athwal.
01:48My name is Angie Barton.
01:50In 2005, I was a police family liaison officer, often referred to as a FLO, deployed on the
01:57case of Subjit Athwal.
02:00It's so important to have that connection with the family, to work with them.
02:06Because a lot of families, that is the very first time they're having any contact with
02:10police.
02:11They don't understand the court system or, you know, post-mortems or forensics or anything
02:16like that.
02:17It really is a minefield.
02:19Our role is to help them understand what's been done, why it's been done, to understand
02:25how an investigation unfolds.
02:27And for me, it's about if I was in the position of the family, what do I want the police
02:32to
02:32do?
02:33So, Subjit's sister-in-law, Subjit, was absolutely petrified that she had been got rid of, murdered.
02:41From that moment, I became her point of contact in the murder investigation.
02:51PHONE RINGS
02:54Hello, dear Sandy Barton.
02:56Oh, hi Clive, how are you doing?
02:59Yep, yep.
03:00Yeah, I know about that case.
03:02Shall I pop up and see you?
03:04Yep, I'll be there in a minute.
03:08My name is Clive Driscoll.
03:10I was appointed the senior investigating officer attached to the Racial and Violent Crime Task
03:15Force within the Metropolitan Police Service.
03:19The task force was really set up around crimes of a racial nature that maybe we hadn't investigated
03:27to the standards that were required.
03:32that we had to do so many times.
03:33Originally, the briefing was that Sir Jean Athwell said at the time that she was going to go
03:38out to India to three weddings, five and a half thousand miles away.
03:43After leaving on the 4th of December 1998 and due to come home on the 18th, she never actually
03:49came home.
03:54There'd been absolutely nothing heard about her for over seven years.
04:00When somebody's reported missing, if there's no movement for them, after seven years they
04:05can be officially declared dead.
04:07It was a case well worthy of an investigation.
04:11Clive's an amazing SIO.
04:12He pointed to the picture of Sir Jean and he said, Angie, that's what I'm after.
04:17That's what I'm looking for.
04:19I'm making sure that we're doing the right thing for Sir Jean.
04:22Clive said, could you come with me to meet this family?
04:25It's a missing persons.
04:26It might be a murder, but we're going to go and speak to father of a potential witness.
04:32Meeting Sub's parents for the first time, you know, you're being respectful, you're going
04:36into somebody's home.
04:37They invited us to come and sit down and they provided us with drinks.
04:42It became pretty obvious to me that the father was really, really worried about his daughter.
04:46She wanted to talk about what she knew about what had happened to her sister-in-law, Sergit.
04:54I just remember thinking, he looks really worried.
04:59Looks really, really worried.
05:01Scared.
05:02I do remember him saying, please, Mr. Clive, protect my daughter.
05:06Please protect her.
05:07To the best of my ability, I said, yes, we will guarantee her.
05:11Looking at Sub's mum, her English isn't very good and I'm not very conversant in her language,
05:16but there are some things that transcend language.
05:20Mayor held her hand and said, we're going to do everything we can to protect your daughter.
05:24We talked about how we were going to make contact with their daughter
05:29to have the conversation about what she needed to tell us, about what she knew.
05:40So I was married into the Atrol family.
05:43My name is Sabjit Atrol.
05:45I was a key witness in the investigation of the disappearance of my sister-in-law, Sergit Atrol.
05:52So it's quite a big family.
05:54We were all living in the same house.
05:56It's a three-bedroom house.
05:57And my father-in-law is really nice, really sweet, caring and supporting.
06:02When he was alive, everybody just got in with each other.
06:06And there's no frictions, no arguments.
06:10It was my father-in-law, my mother-in-law Bachchan.
06:14They had all daughters.
06:16And the man I married, his name was Hardave.
06:20Sukhdev was his brother.
06:23Sergit was married to Sukhdev.
06:25When I moved into that house, Sergit was already there.
06:28She got married a year and a half before I did.
06:30She was a young woman when she met and married Sukhdev.
06:34She was about 16, I think.
06:35It was an arranged marriage.
06:38My father-in-law became quite seriously ill.
06:40He passed away.
06:41My mother-in-law announced that she was going to be the head of the family.
06:44And everything had to be her way.
06:46She had certain rules for a place.
06:49And she did rule the family.
06:51Everybody had to look up to her.
06:58My name is Rajbeer Dhillon, and I am the niece of Sergit Atwal.
07:02And my father, Jagdish Singh, was Sajid's oldest brother.
07:07When it comes to marriage, having children,
07:12it's not acceptable for somebody to marry out of culture.
07:16I accept some of those traditional values, but not all of them.
07:20Because I feel like it does restrict a human being from totally being free.
07:28And my father and Sajid had a very close relationship right from a young age.
07:34They would have a lot of banter together.
07:37And at the same time, there was a lot of pure love.
07:40They were just there for each other.
07:42He was just so concerned and so distraught when he knew she hadn't returned from India.
07:49When Sergit didn't come back, her brother, Jaz Singh, he was instrumental in keeping the pressure for an inquiry to
08:04be commenced.
08:05He was desperate to explain to the police that this is unusual.
08:11My father wanted to get to the bottom of, where is she? We need to find my sister.
08:17He had a gut feeling that something wasn't right.
08:20He actually did go over to the household of Sergit's.
08:24Basham would just brush off and just not take the responsibility of her whereabouts and say,
08:31oh, I think she just ran off.
08:32He went into sort of a panic mode.
08:35OK, we need to do something right now. So we need to contact the police right now.
08:41When Jagdish Singh and Mr. Dillon, Sergit's father, went into the police station,
08:46the case started as a missing persons inquiry.
08:49The police went to do door-to-door inquiries.
08:52They spoke to local neighbours to find out where Sergit was.
08:55Sergit's brother put out posters and all sorts of different things.
08:59I started sort of being proactive with my father.
09:02Going with him to go and speak to the local community of West London
09:07and actually ask them if anybody has heard or seen anything.
09:12His own personal drive is unmatched to anybody that I know.
09:19He just chose never to give up.
09:22So when we did put missing photos up, they would just get ripped off.
09:26The local community were not helpful.
09:28The committees of the Gudra would actually say to my father
09:33to not put any of those missing photos up
09:35and not to speak about the issue.
09:38It just felt like we were being rejected
09:40and nobody wanted to come forward and help.
09:52It was fairly obvious he hadn't come home in the new year.
09:57That's when he went over to the murder teams.
10:00And then, obviously, they conducted a murder inquiry.
10:04When the police came to our house, they would speak to Sukhdev and Bachchan at the door.
10:11I could sense that the atmosphere in the house was like they were quite concerned.
10:16When the police came, what the questions were going to be asked
10:19and making sure they all stuck together.
10:23Sukhdev was more like playing a game with them.
10:27He would say that, you know, she's left on her own accord.
10:30She's left two kids behind. I'm too busy looking after the kids.
10:33I don't, you know, I can't really do much.
10:36They didn't come into the house at all.
10:38And I think that's one of the mistakes they made.
10:45There was an investigation going on in India as well
10:49for the disappearance of murder of Sir Jean Athwell.
10:53My father, at that time, he sent emails to the Indian Embassy
10:57and to Parliament and to the Prime Minister.
11:01We started to receive anonymous calls
11:04which were coming from back home in Punjab.
11:07They would say, we can't, we can't tell you who we are.
11:11But what we can tell you is that she's been murdered.
11:19The Indian police certainly did inquiries as a murder.
11:22There was two suspects in India.
11:25One was the brother of Becancore Athwell.
11:36So after some time, me and Sergei fell pregnant.
11:40Kind of the same time.
11:42She was three weeks ahead of me.
11:45And then we supported each other on that.
11:48Sook Dave and Sergei gave birth to their first daughter.
11:52They were happy.
11:54Between Sergei and Sook Dave, things seemed OK.
11:58Mother-in-law was over the moon that my sons had a daughter.
12:02She was just fine.
12:03After some time, Sergei and Sook Dave moved into the house
12:06on the right-hand side.
12:08They were living next door to each other.
12:09So it was Sergei and Sook Dave in one house.
12:13Me and Ha Dave in the other house.
12:14But the mother-in-law, Bachchan,
12:16she had the option to be in whichever house she wanted to be in.
12:20Sergei got a job at Heathrow Airport as a customer's officer.
12:24She loved that job.
12:26It made her gain a bit of freedom.
12:29She was able to go out and be herself.
12:32She was learning more skills.
12:33She was becoming more experienced in the outer world.
12:36She was still being that loving person at home.
12:39She was still doing the cooking, the caring for her kids,
12:43the housework.
12:45All of that she still carried on doing.
12:47The only difference was that she was going to work,
12:50making new friends and socialising
12:52and becoming her own person.
12:55And Sook Dave wasn't happy about that.
12:57He would just say,
12:57when you finish your work,
12:58can you make sure you come straight home?
13:00And it was that freedom that they didn't like.
13:02There was obviously a lot of pressure on Sergei.
13:05She would dress in the way she wanted to dress.
13:07It was nothing outrageous at all.
13:09She would dress in modern clothing,
13:12wearing make-up.
13:13But she would say to Sergei,
13:16we want you to leave work.
13:17We want you to stay at home and look after the kids.
13:20And Sergei disagreed.
13:24As time went by,
13:25then Sook Dave became more and more angry towards her
13:31because he said that she wasn't listening.
13:33Sergei was a very sort of free thinker,
13:36very liberated herself,
13:38and very confident in sort of speaking about her values
13:41and her opinions.
13:42And she wouldn't shy away from sort of explaining how she felt.
13:48That was part of Sergei's personality,
13:50and you can't fit her into a box.
13:55And Bachchan said that I can't let her carry on like this,
13:58become my honours at stake.
13:59It's bringing a lot of shame to the family household.
14:04And Bachchan was very cold,
14:08very controlling.
14:10Bachchan would sometimes actually say to my auntie Sergei,
14:14oh, do this in the kitchen,
14:15or you haven't cooked this right,
14:17or you need to redo this.
14:19It was very transactional, very, very much one-sided.
14:24You can only be a good wife if you abide by these rules.
14:29Whatever she said that had to be done,
14:31we couldn't question it.
14:32If I wanted to go and see my parents,
14:34if I wanted to see my siblings,
14:36I had to get permission from her.
14:37If she said I was allowed to go, I could.
14:39But otherwise, I wasn't allowed to go.
14:42I had to pick up the phone and call my parents,
14:44make some excuse up,
14:46so they wouldn't feel let down.
14:48The treatment between her daughters and us,
14:51myself and Sergei, was completely different.
14:53They didn't have any rights in that household at all
14:56because they were daughters-in-law.
14:58We had to maintain a certain image within that family.
15:02They could do whatever they wanted to do.
15:04They could go out, meet people.
15:06But with us, it was completely different.
15:09It's more control, more pressure,
15:12that you can't do this, you can't go there,
15:14you can't wear this.
15:15Not to do anything that was shameful or dishonorable.
15:17I think in our culture, shame is such a huge thing
15:21that whatever you're reading in our life,
15:24whether we're communicating with people,
15:25dressing in a certain way,
15:27living in a certain way,
15:29the standards are really, really high.
15:31I think Butchen wanted to make sure
15:33those standards were maintained
15:35at the highest at all levels.
15:37But by doing that,
15:39she didn't really care what happened to anybody.
15:42They lived within a Sikh household.
15:46But I think that the Athwolds
15:48took that to a new level, really.
15:50They took it to a level which I'm not so sure
15:52even Sikh families would agree with.
15:55It was a real rod of iron.
16:00So it was struggling with her marriage with Sook Deb.
16:03Her marriage started to destroy her personality over time.
16:08She was no longer able to express herself anymore.
16:12She was no longer that bubbly person anymore.
16:15She was no longer the person that would reach out to you.
16:19Sook Dave Athwell was 10 years senior to Sergi.
16:24But he was also someone who somehow felt he owned Sergi
16:28other than a partnership in a marriage.
16:31There were domestic abuse situations between them.
16:34Sergi was really unhappy in her marriage
16:37and she did try applying for divorce.
16:39I think she had started the application.
16:41But as far as she was concerned,
16:43and nobody knew about this,
16:45but somehow Sook Dave found out
16:47and that information was passed on to Butchen.
16:50Within our culture,
16:51having a divorce is such a big, big issue.
16:54Even talking about disagreements within the family
16:57is a complete taboo.
17:00She wanted a divorce.
17:02And at that moment there,
17:04I think that that was unacceptable,
17:06certainly at the back and core of Athwell,
17:07but it was unacceptable,
17:09back and core Athwell's vision
17:11of what the family should be.
17:13This family felt that her leaving,
17:16it would have offended their honor.
17:19That was the straw that broke the camel's back.
17:23So I felt, well, there is a motive for murder.
17:38I was at where I lived,
17:40and mother-in-law came over,
17:42and she said to me,
17:43can you put some tea on?
17:44So I started putting the tea on.
17:46And then Har Dave came downstairs.
17:49Then soon after, Sook Dave came,
17:52and one of their daughters came over as well.
17:54I was quite surprised thinking,
17:55what's happening?
17:56Why are these people coming over?
17:58And they're all sitting at the table,
17:59and Butchen said,
18:00can you just turn the tea off and come inside?
18:03So I came inside and joined them at the table.
18:07Butchen had said that Serge's behavior's getting out of control.
18:10We can't allow her to carry on like this.
18:13She made a plan to take her to India
18:14and said that she was going to get rid of her.
18:17In our culture, in our language,
18:19that means that you literally
18:21are going to get rid of that person.
18:23She had spoken to her brother in India,
18:25who said that he can take care of everything.
18:29When I heard those words
18:30that they were going to get rid of Serge,
18:32I felt so anxious.
18:33I felt sick.
18:34I felt numb at the same time.
18:36She's the daughter-in-law of this family.
18:39She's your son's wife.
18:40She's got two kids, your grandkids.
18:43There's no way you can do this.
18:45Her sons appeared not to have, dare I say,
18:48a bit of a backbone.
18:49You know, why are you allowing your mother
18:52to tell you what you're going to do
18:54with your lives and your wife?
18:57I couldn't understand how a family could be so cold.
19:02I knew I had to do something.
19:04I couldn't just sit back
19:05and just ignore the whole situation.
19:09I wrote a letter to my local police station.
19:13Any moment I got on my own at home
19:15and everybody was at work,
19:17I put pen to paper
19:19and I started writing a letter
19:21outlining everything I needed to know.
19:24I didn't put my name on it at all.
19:27I put the house address on it.
19:29I put everything about the meeting.
19:31Every single little detail
19:32the police would have wanted to know.
19:34When I was writing that letter, I was really, really scared,
19:38frightened for my own life,
19:39thinking if anybody found out,
19:40God knows what will happen.
19:42For me, that letter was a massive thing.
19:46And now it was down to the police to act on that letter.
19:50To act on it in the right time,
19:52so Sergio could have still been alive.
19:57I heard Bachchan speaking to Sukhdev and Hardave
20:01about Sergio's behaviour
20:04and she seemed really upset and angry.
20:07At the same time, she started talking to Sergio
20:10and she said,
20:10let's go to India.
20:12We'll see two weddings out there.
20:14Show yourself out there.
20:16They haven't seen you.
20:17Be the dutiful daughter-in-law you can be.
20:19When you come back,
20:20we won't stand in your way.
20:21You can have your own life.
20:23In other words,
20:24if you come to India with us,
20:26if you attend the family weddings,
20:28looking like you're part of the family,
20:31that protects our honour.
20:33And then we will give you your divorce.
20:35And that made her really excited and happy.
20:38She kind of went along with the plans,
20:39booking the tickets,
20:41speaking to Bachchan about the dates
20:44and getting holidays off work.
20:46On the 4th of December 1998,
20:50her brother-in-law Hardave drove her to Heathrow Airport
20:53and she took that,
20:54I think it was about a 30-hour flight
20:56with view to go to these weddings.
20:59The footage of Sajid going to the wedding.
21:03In that moment, she may look happy,
21:06but more than likely,
21:07she's been told to pull that face
21:10or look happy
21:12because it's now going to be evidence for Bachchan to show,
21:16yes, we took her to the wedding
21:18and she's had a great time.
21:26She's actually come back.
21:28She never knew
21:31what was going on behind the scenes.
21:35As a result of that investigation going on in India,
21:38as well,
21:39British police officers arrested
21:41Back and Call Athwell,
21:42Sukhdev Athwell,
21:44Hardave Athwell,
21:45who was Saabjit Aswell's husband,
21:46and Saabjit.
21:48And I told the police everything in that interview,
21:51what her intentions were,
21:52what she said,
21:53that they were going to get rid of her
21:54and take her to India.
21:55And I felt like the police didn't believe me at the time.
21:58I remember them sitting in front of me and said that,
22:01we haven't received any letter that you're talking about.
22:03They puzzled me again and again and again about the letter.
22:06Then one of the officers, he said to me,
22:08I think you've got mental health issues
22:10and you should go and see your doctor and get some help.
22:13I was really shocked,
22:15really shocked thinking that,
22:16here's me putting myself at risk.
22:19And you're literally,
22:20you're just dismissing the whole situation.
22:23The case didn't really go anywhere
22:25because there was lack of evidence.
22:26The police believed back in Corathra
22:28and sucked over, not Saabjit.
22:30And after that, I realised actually,
22:32I had lost complete trust in the police.
22:34I had no hope they were going to help me
22:36or support me or guide me or listen to me
22:38or even believe me.
22:39But I had no choice
22:40and I had to go back home with their family.
22:44They had to live with them for a further seven years.
22:53Before I'd met with Saabjit
22:55to have her interview,
22:56we had already started looking at the information
23:00around the family,
23:01what they'd said previously,
23:03gathering together
23:04to have the evidence to arrest again,
23:08Bachchan and Sukhdev and Hardev.
23:11One of the blood daughters of Backencore
23:13had kept a diary where she put it,
23:16Mum's a murderer.
23:17And that's when we gained other information.
23:20Sukhdev said that his wife had left him,
23:22had abandoned him and his children,
23:23and was living in India.
23:25But he'd made an application
23:27to a Department of Work and Pensions
23:29to help him pay the mortgage
23:30now that he was a single parent
23:32and his wife had died.
23:33So the question is,
23:34how did he know his wife had died?
23:37Sukhdev said that he'd been into Terminal 1
23:41and Terminal 3 at Heathrow Airport.
23:44He said he was approached by this woman
23:46he'd never met before,
23:47whose name was Kate,
23:49who said,
23:50I use Saabjit's husband.
23:52And she got her mobile phone out apparently,
23:55rang Saabjit,
23:56and gave the phone to Sukhdev,
23:58who apparently heard from Saabjit
24:01that she was never coming back,
24:04that she's happy and so on.
24:06Is that true?
24:07Or can we show that it isn't true?
24:09We found this Kate through inquiries,
24:12who said,
24:14I'd never met Sukhdev,
24:16don't know what he looks like.
24:18But I was really worried
24:19that he might come back to say,
24:21we got the wrong Kate.
24:22So I spent a few weeks at Heathrow
24:24going through their systems,
24:25looking for any other Kate,
24:27Katerina, Catherine,
24:29spelt different ways,
24:30who could be the other Kate
24:33and couldn't find anybody
24:35that matched the description
24:36that he was saying.
24:37We could show that it wasn't true.
24:41We started to look at,
24:43what did we need to do
24:44to try and prove
24:45that this missing person,
24:47Sergit,
24:48was potentially a victim of murder?
24:50The fact that Saabjit was sister-in-law,
24:53was willing to speak to police,
24:55I was worried for her.
24:57How was this going to work out?
24:58Especially since she's living
25:00with the family
25:01who are suspected of being
25:03part of Sergit's murder,
25:05or disappearance.
25:07Clive asked me
25:08if I could do the interview with her.
25:12We knew from Sergit's father
25:14that if Sergit was known
25:17to be speaking to the police,
25:18that would put her in grave danger.
25:20So we couldn't just go in
25:22and, like, normally ask
25:24if you'd come and do an interview.
25:25We were thinking about the safest way
25:28for her to get to a venue
25:31so that we could interview her.
25:33And we worked with the family
25:34to arrange for Saabjit
25:36to be brought to a police station
25:38in West London.
25:39Made the arrangements
25:40about that interview
25:41through her father.
25:42We had to really prepare it,
25:44get the video suite ready
25:46at a particular time.
25:47And we managed to arrange a date
25:48on the 27th of October 2005
25:52for her to meet me.
25:54You are relying on
25:55a little bit of
25:57other people's actions
25:59because, you know,
26:00we realised
26:01that her husband
26:02was still at home
26:03and she was making his dinner.
26:04And so we didn't know,
26:05is he going to go to work?
26:06Is he not going to go to work?
26:07He did go to work, thank the Lord.
26:10And literally then
26:11we managed to get her out.
26:12We did it between 2 o'clock
26:13and 4 o'clock in the afternoon.
26:15When I entered the police station,
26:17I was barely able to walk off shaking
26:19and my legs were trembling
26:21because I was thinking
26:21that if anybody saw me
26:22walked into the police station,
26:24I would have been
26:25really, really big trouble.
26:26I was experiencing
26:28video interviewing
26:29of vulnerable victims.
26:30I was just struck
26:31by how frightened she was.
26:34And I felt at the time
26:35incredibly brave
26:36because she'd only recently
26:37had a small child
26:39and there she was
26:40about to talk to us
26:41and tell us about
26:42what she knew
26:43had happened to surgery.
26:45Angie was really lovely.
26:46She was really caring
26:47and approachable.
26:51I've always felt
26:52that the family liaison officer
26:53was extremely crucial.
26:55It's a bridge between
26:56the senior investigating officer
26:57that's in charge
26:58of their investigation
27:00and the family.
27:01In this case,
27:02the family,
27:03we've lost a bit
27:04of confidence in the police.
27:05And so,
27:06building up that confidence,
27:08building up that trust,
27:10that is a crucial role.
27:12The FLO played a major part.
27:15Your family need to know
27:16that they can trust you,
27:18that you're going to do
27:19what you say you're going to do.
27:22We didn't have much time,
27:24but I just kept reassuring her,
27:26explaining the process
27:27about how we were going to do
27:28the video interview
27:29and for her just to,
27:31don't make anything up,
27:33don't leave anything out,
27:34just tell us what you remember.
27:38I knew that we needed to get
27:40the most important parts
27:41of what she had to say
27:42captured in that interview.
27:47They went to pick the mum up
27:49from the airport
27:50and she came on her own.
27:52I still couldn't believe
27:53that she actually went ahead
27:55and did it.
27:55So I just wanted to find out.
27:57Everybody was at work one day.
27:59Butcham came over
27:59from the house next door
28:01into the house
28:02and she sat down
28:03and she said that
28:06everything's been taken care of now.
28:08And I just wanted to be clear
28:10that I was understanding
28:12it correctly.
28:13So I said to her
28:14and I said, where's Sergi?
28:15She goes, Sergi,
28:16it's been taken care of.
28:19And she just said that
28:20she's not going to come back.
28:22Butcham's brother
28:23and another friend
28:24drove Sergi
28:26far away somewhere
28:27in her jeep.
28:29On the way they drugged her,
28:31they strangled her
28:32and they threw her body
28:34in the river.
28:36I was really, really shocked.
28:46I couldn't understand
28:47how Butcham confessed
28:48to this openly.
28:50She said,
28:51you're not going to speak
28:51to anybody about this.
28:53We're going to close
28:54the conversations
28:56around this now.
28:57Nobody's going to mention
28:57anything to anybody.
28:59Nobody's going to talk
29:00about any kind of dishonour
29:03towards our family.
29:04No more shame.
29:05And from that moment onwards,
29:07I just looked at Butcham
29:08in a completely different way.
29:11She wasn't a mother-in-law.
29:14I just...
29:15I just didn't think
29:17she was a really evil person.
29:21My filth,
29:23I wasn't safe in that house.
29:25She was the murderer
29:26and I was living with her
29:27every single day.
29:30Back in 2000,
29:31Sarbjit would have been
29:32treated as a suspect.
29:34I took a different view.
29:35I thought, well,
29:36actually your truth
29:37is the only truth
29:38that makes any sense.
29:41One of the decisions I made
29:43was to go and obtain
29:44all of the papers
29:45which were being kept
29:46at Barnes Police Station.
29:49There were 13 boxes
29:50and I can remember
29:51taking them home for the weekend
29:53and reading them.
29:54So a considerable amount
29:55of paperwork.
29:56And lo and behold,
29:57what I found
29:58was the letter.
30:00So it was there.
30:02So what we had
30:03was that person's evidence now.
30:05What you always do
30:06is almost give continuity
30:08to evidence.
30:11He goes,
30:12can you recognise
30:13this piece of paper?
30:15I said,
30:16this is the letter I wrote
30:16where the officers
30:17accused me of having
30:18mental health issues
30:20and said that
30:21I'd just made it all up.
30:22When she wrote that,
30:23she tried her hardest.
30:24She did everything
30:25in her power
30:25to make us,
30:28the Metropolitan Police Service,
30:29sit up and understand
30:30what was happening.
30:32For Clive
30:32to go back
30:33and find that letter,
30:35it just really meant
30:36a lot to me
30:37for him to come in
30:38and acknowledge
30:38that he had it.
30:39After Subjit
30:41had given the video interview,
30:43she felt that the family
30:45were thinking.
30:46She was their weak link.
30:48There was a feeling
30:50that they might have known
30:52she was talking to the police
30:53and that they were plotting
30:54and planning something
30:56which would have ended badly
30:58for Mrs. Subjit-Athwell.
31:01Blachian came over to our house.
31:03She wanted to stay the night.
31:05She actually said
31:06that she would stay
31:08that night
31:09and sleep in the same bed
31:11as Subjit.
31:12She said to me,
31:13you're going to sleep with me
31:14in the same bed
31:15and something didn't seem right at all.
31:17I felt trapped.
31:18I couldn't find a way out.
31:19I was scared if I fell asleep.
31:21God knows what would happen.
31:22Subjit-Athwell said
31:23she never had a wink sleep
31:24because she thought she was
31:26going to be murdered in her bed.
31:28After that morning
31:29when we came downstairs
31:30and Blachian said that
31:32since you've been married
31:33in this family
31:33she goes,
31:34we've never had a trip together,
31:36have we?
31:36And instantly
31:37I knew straight away
31:38what she meant.
31:39She said,
31:39I think now's the time
31:40for you to go to India.
31:42Nah, enough's enough.
31:52Now I had a meeting
31:53with the Crown Prosecution Service.
31:55I went through the evidence
31:56we now had
31:57in our possession.
31:58The letters,
31:59the video interview,
32:02the information
32:02that she was murdered
32:05by being taken
32:07to the Live at Avie,
32:09strangled
32:09and then thrown in
32:10the river.
32:11Their indication was
32:13that we were
32:14certainly going
32:15in the right way.
32:16As a result,
32:17we've arrested
32:18everybody connected
32:20with this case.
32:21Back and Crawl Athwell,
32:22Suk Dave Athwell,
32:23Har Dave Athwell.
32:24And we also arrested
32:25Mrs. Sarbjit Athwell,
32:26who will remain
32:27to this day
32:28the only person
32:29I've ever met
32:29who was happy to be arrested.
32:31That was to make it look like
32:33she was part of our
32:34operation
32:35and a suspect.
32:36Suk Dave and Bachan
32:38were charged
32:38with murder
32:40and they were kept in custody.
32:43Har Dave and
32:45Sarbjit were released.
32:47After we'd arrested
32:49and charged
32:49Back and Crawl Athwell
32:50and Suk Dave Athwell,
32:52that's when the pressure
32:53really went on.
32:55So Sarbjit was
32:56back at home
32:57with her husband,
32:58Har Dave,
32:58and their children.
32:59I think she still
33:01in her mind
33:01felt she could save
33:02her marriage.
33:04Maybe
33:05her husband
33:06would do
33:07the honourable thing.
33:09That's what she hoped.
33:11The Sarbjit
33:12always wanted to give evidence
33:13but she said
33:14she was being threatened
33:15which extended
33:16to threats towards her children.
33:18The messages
33:18that were being flying
33:19left, right and centre
33:20from her husband
33:21was just dreadful.
33:22Truly dreadful.
33:23She said
33:24she was assaulted,
33:25pushed down the stairs
33:26and then
33:27I think she felt
33:28am I ever going to be safe?
33:31Bear in mind that
33:32then hard-aid Athwell
33:33hadn't been charged.
33:35We could not prevent him
33:36from seeing Mrs. Athwell.
33:38We didn't have the power
33:39to prevent it.
33:40We rather he didn't
33:41but we couldn't prevent it.
33:43That's for sure.
33:44Between Christmas and New Year
33:45Sarbjit contacted me
33:47to say
33:47Angie what I said
33:48in that interview
33:49was all made up.
33:50I was struggling
33:50with my mental health
33:52having just had a baby
33:53and I want to withdraw it.
33:55You know we had no body.
33:57We had no CCTV.
33:58We had no forensic.
34:00If Sarbjit's voice
34:01is removed
34:02or that her account
34:03is removed
34:04it makes it more difficult
34:05to prove beyond
34:06reasonable doubt
34:07that Sarbjit did leave
34:08under the pretext
34:10of getting a divorce
34:11when she came back
34:12to be murdered in India.
34:14I remember having
34:15a conversation
34:16with Clive
34:16and we immediately
34:18arranged to meet her
34:19and we took her
34:20to a police place
34:21that we've got
34:22in West London
34:23and we had a conversation
34:24just the three of us
34:25and she was adamant
34:26that no I need you to know
34:27that what I said
34:27was all made up.
34:28Along those lines
34:29I want to withdraw
34:30my statement.
34:31What I told you wasn't true
34:33and Clive was asking her
34:35you know
34:35have you been put
34:36under pressure?
34:37And she was saying
34:37no, no, I'm fine
34:39I just don't want
34:40my statement to be used.
34:41And we realised
34:42she couldn't stay
34:43in the family.
34:44She knew that she wanted
34:45to be away in case
34:46she was going to get
34:46the same treatment
34:47because that's what
34:48Batchen had effectively told her.
34:49So she was under
34:50a lot of pressure.
34:51We arranged with her
34:52and her parents
34:54for her to leave
34:55the family with her children
34:56and come to
34:57temporary accommodation
34:58and be together.
34:59What she wanted
35:00was protection
35:01quite rightly
35:02and so Kingston Council
35:04gave us a property
35:05and we moved her in.
35:07For which
35:08I'll remain
35:09forever grateful.
35:10There was never
35:11a formal withdrawing
35:12of her statement
35:13ever
35:13because we acted
35:14reasonably quickly.
35:16We'd put Mrs. Athwell
35:17somewhere safe.
35:19My name is Alan Goodley.
35:21I'm a retired detective sergeant
35:23from the Metropolitan Police.
35:25In April 2007
35:28I was deployed
35:29as a family liaison officer
35:32to Sarbjit Athwell.
35:34My SIO, Clive Driscoll,
35:37asked me to establish
35:38a relationship with her
35:40whereby we could
35:42contact each other freely.
35:44Well Alan was like
35:45our first reserve.
35:47He's worked on murder squads,
35:48flying squad.
35:49The most unlikely bloke
35:51you'd ever think
35:51in a million years
35:52to be an FLO
35:53but he was blinded.
35:54When you're moving someone
35:56you don't want
35:57that address known to anybody
35:59other than maybe
36:00close family members
36:01trying to make sure
36:02that the bad guys
36:04and girls
36:04don't find out
36:05where they are.
36:06Having had
36:07previous experience
36:08within the
36:09witness protection program,
36:11then you will take
36:12anti-surveillance methods
36:15and techniques.
36:16Passing the address,
36:18not looking about yourself,
36:20not doing U-turns
36:21at the top of the road
36:22and coming back
36:23and parking.
36:24I know Angela and Alan
36:25did all sorts of things
36:27to make her feel safe
36:28because that's what
36:30you're trying to do
36:31is protect your witness.
36:32It's very difficult
36:33to understand
36:34when somebody
36:35has had to ask
36:36permission
36:37to do everything.
36:39That you suddenly
36:40take them out
36:41of an environment
36:42where they do have
36:43to make
36:44all of their decisions
36:45their self.
36:47There was an occasion
36:48where she...
36:50she was in
36:51Kingston Town Centre
36:53and she rang me
36:54and she said
36:56she didn't know
36:56what to do.
36:58All these thoughts
36:59were flashing
36:59through her mind
37:00and would I come
37:02and see her?
37:03We had a drive round
37:04and then took her home.
37:06To suddenly be independent
37:07and having to make
37:08decisions for herself,
37:09I think she found that
37:10really overwhelming.
37:11I remember walking
37:12into this warehouse
37:13and looking at
37:14all these beds
37:15and I remember
37:16turning to her
37:17and saying along the lines of
37:19if I'm not going to sleep
37:20on a mattress,
37:21you're not sleeping
37:22on a mattress.
37:23It's not so much
37:24being a flow,
37:25it's just one human
37:27helping another human
37:28at that moment
37:29when they need it.
37:31It's not written in a book,
37:32you know,
37:33go and help a victim
37:34find a mattress.
37:36But if they need help,
37:39you do the right thing by them.
37:45I don't think she believed
37:47the day would ever come
37:48that Bachan and Sukhdev
37:49would be charged
37:51with the murder of Sergit.
37:53It had been so many years,
37:55her trying to tell the police,
37:57living with the family
37:59and then finally telling us
38:01her account
38:02that had led to them
38:03being charged.
38:04She was in shock.
38:06The role of a flow at the trial
38:09is crucial.
38:09to make that as stress less
38:11as possible.
38:12Sabajah was really,
38:13really scared.
38:15But I did everything I could
38:16to explain it to her
38:17to deal with any concerns
38:19that she had.
38:20Angie literally just talked me
38:21through the whole process.
38:23She supported me.
38:26When the trial date was coming up,
38:28I took her to the Old Bailey
38:30to show her the building
38:31so that on the day that she would turn up,
38:34it wouldn't be a complete and utter shock
38:36because there's so much to take in.
38:37That gave me some reassurance
38:39that when I come into the day,
38:41when I come into giving my evidence
38:43of the day,
38:43this is what I'm going to expect.
38:49The trial eventually started on the 25th of April 2007.
38:54The most unique thing about this case
38:57is that nobody was ever recovered.
39:01Normally, in a case like this,
39:04we'd have to be in a position to prove death.
39:07The evidence was circumstantial.
39:12There is always that element of doubt
39:14in the back of your mind
39:15that that wouldn't have been sufficient enough
39:18for a conviction of murder.
39:22What Sabajit had to say in her statement
39:26and the evidence that she was going to give
39:30was crucial.
39:31My role was to pick her up,
39:34bring her to the court,
39:35be with her during the day,
39:38look after her,
39:39and then take her home.
39:41When it came to going into the courtroom,
39:44I just remember saying,
39:46your most important role
39:47is just to explain to the jury
39:49and the judge what happened.
39:52Direct your answers and responses to the jury
39:56because they're the ones that need to hear your account.
40:03We arranged that I would go in with her
40:06and sit to one side
40:07so that if she was feeling a bit anxious or nervous,
40:10she could look at me just to let her know,
40:13I'm really nervous.
40:14Could you help me, please?
40:15And I remember she was absolutely petrified.
40:18And it was my job to reassure her
40:20that actually the worst of it has already happened.
40:24I think it must have been my faith in God
40:26that helped me through going into the box
40:29and giving evidence.
40:30She spent three and a half days in the witness box
40:33giving her evidence and being cross-examined.
40:35And that was tough.
40:36That was really tough.
40:38I was able to give my evidence,
40:40tell the jury exactly what happened,
40:42everything they did, how they did it,
40:44all the threats that was put towards me and my children.
40:49She stuck to what she knew.
40:50And although it was stressful for her,
40:53she did a fantastic job explaining what had happened.
40:56In court, she was very truthful.
40:59She didn't hide from it.
41:01She was petrified.
41:04No, very brave, incredibly brave.
41:07At the heart of this was a young woman
41:09whose life had been cruelly taken
41:11by people who felt they had the right to do that.
41:14And Sabjit was putting that wrong right
41:17by making sure people understood what had happened.
41:20She was the voice for Surjit.
41:24Seeing Bachchan and Sook Dave in that courtroom
41:27was really, really hard for me.
41:29At times I tried avoiding it,
41:31angling myself towards the judge.
41:33Neither Bachchan Kaur or Sook Dave Athwal appeared
41:38to show any emotion whilst they were in the dark
41:43at the Old Bailey.
41:44It was very unnerving.
41:46Bachchan Kaur and Sook Dave Athwal did suggest
41:49that she'd run off with another man to Mumbai in India.
41:54And there was certainly no evidence to suggest that.
41:57Sook Dave gave evidence.
41:59He just came across sort of like he was lying.
42:09At the conclusion of the trial,
42:11Bachchan Kaur was found guilty of murder of Surjit Athwal.
42:14And she was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment.
42:18Sook Dave Athwal was sentenced to 27 years imprisonment
42:23for the murder of his wife, Surjit.
42:26Bachchan Kaur has never shown any remorse for her part
42:29in the murder of her daughter-in-law.
42:31Sook Dave has not made any comment, apology, acknowledgement
42:36that he played a major part in the murder of his wife.
42:42I phoned Mrs Athwal to tell her what had happened.
42:47They'd been found guilty.
42:49And then the phone went dead.
42:51And I said, are you all right?
42:52And then the phone was her sister.
42:55Said she's fainted.
42:57She'd fainted, I told her, and she'd crashed down.
42:59I just felt a dizzy spell and I sat on the floor.
43:02I think she was in shock.
43:04But actually the jury and everyone had heard her story
43:07and believed what she'd explained, what had happened.
43:10It was almost as if it was confirming that what she'd done,
43:13it was the right thing to do.
43:14I was relieved that they were found guilty
43:17and finally we were able to get justice for Surjit.
43:20That was the biggest thing that made me really, really happy.
43:23I kept in contact with Saab after the trial
43:27just to make sure that she was still OK.
43:29She was moved from another property to a new home.
43:32By then she was more confident.
43:35She had the courage to stand up for what was right
43:41and to live her life.
43:46Angie's coming over today.
43:47I'm really excited to see her.
43:49It's been quite a while actually when I saw her last.
43:52Just looking forward to seeing her, yeah.
43:54I know the case has ended now,
43:56but the friendship we made throughout the court case,
44:00that still remains.
44:02Hi, please.
44:06Oh, my God.
44:07How are you?
44:08How are you?
44:09You look amazing.
44:10How are you doing?
44:11I know.
44:12I'm too.
44:13Are you OK?
44:14I'm all right.
44:15I'm good.
44:16I'm good.
44:17It's so lovely to see you.
44:18Me too.
44:18It's so lovely to see you, girl.
44:21You OK?
44:22I'm OK, yeah.
44:22Good.
44:23Good.
44:23Well, life must be treating you well at the minute
44:25because you look amazing.
44:26It is.
44:27Thank you so much.
44:28The woman that I first met at that interview in October 2005
44:34is a completely different person to who I see today.
44:38She's blossomed.
44:39She's free.
44:41And she has such a lovely, warm, loving family
44:45who are all so proud of her for doing the right thing.
44:48And she's gone on to do incredible things,
44:51supporting others who are in a similar situation.
44:54After the trial, I joined the police
44:56because I wanted to give something back.
44:59Officers came up to me and said that
45:01we could do with people like you in the police force.
45:03I think Clive encouraged me again and again.
45:06He goes, just apply for it.
45:08I think he saw the potential that I had.
45:10I applied for it, did all my training, did all my tests.
45:15And that was one of the proudest moments of my life.
45:18Over the years to see you.
45:19Yeah, I'm UT.
45:21And to hear about the charity as well.
45:23It's going well.
45:24That's incredible.
45:25Yeah, yeah.
45:26We've formed a charity called True Honour in her memory.
45:30And we support victims who go through similar situations.
45:36And we support survivors.
45:38I think she's just an incredible person.
45:40And I can't thank Angie and Helen enough
45:42for all the support they gave me.
45:44They were absolutely amazing.
45:45That was the biggest thing that made me really, really happy.
45:49We finally got justice for surgery.
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