Harminder Mattu Jailed: Life Sentence for Oldbury Wife Murder

A 51-year-old man has been sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 18 years for the murder of his wife at their home in Oldbury.

Harminder Mattu was sentenced at Wolverhampton Crown Court on Thursday after jurors took just over an hour to convict him of the killing of 46-year-old Paramjit Kaur.

The court heard that the defendant attacked his wife on 30 March 2025, approximately two months after she had initiated divorce proceedings to end their 10-year marriage.

A post-mortem examination established the cause of death as manual strangulation, with the pathologist concluding that knife wounds to the neck were likely inflicted while the victim was already unconscious.

Prosecution evidence detailed a history of domestic abuse and coercive control, including a 2024 incident where the defendant had gripped the victim’s throat until she lost consciousness.

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The trial heard that the victim had briefly moved out of the marital home but was manipulated into returning after the defendant expressed suicidal ideations.

Mattu attended West Bromwich Police Station on the morning of 1 April 2025 to report that he had killed his wife, claiming he had acted in self-defence after she attacked him with a knife.

Judge John Butterfield KC dismissed these claims, suggesting it was plausible that a knife had been placed at the scene by the defendant to manufacture a defence.

The judge described the previous documented instances of violence as the "tip of the iceberg" in a relationship marked by repeated physical assaults.

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The court was told that the victim had described the marriage as having irretrievably broken down in legal documents filed weeks before her death.

In passing sentence, the judge remarked that the duration of the strangulation was inconsistent with anything other than a clear intention to kill.

Mattu declined to give evidence during the trial, though his legal team argued the killing was a spontaneous act of violence following a confrontation.

The defendant will serve a minimum of 18 years in custody before he is eligible to be considered for release by the Parole Board.

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Should he be released, he will remain on life licence and subject to immediate recall to prison for the remainder of his life.

The victim’s family described her as a hard-working and charitable individual who had been looking forward to a new future away from the defendant.