Appeal judges think again about sentence reduction

The Court of Appeal is to reconsider a judgment it made last week to reduce the jail sentence of an Auckland restaurateur convicted of ordering staff to beat and kidnap two other workers.

Rupinder Singh Chahil was jailed for two years in 2009 on two counts of kidnapping and one of aggravated wounding.

Last week the court quashed the aggravated wounding conviction, reduced his sentence to 18 months and ordered him to pay $5000 to one victim, Bashan Singh.

Yesterday the court maintained the quashing of the conviction but said Chahil's appeal against sentence was adjourned for further consideration by a panel of Justices Robert Chambers, Judith Potter and Forrest Miller. Meanwhile, Chahil will remain on bail.

Last week co-accused Parvinder Singh, sentenced to 12 months' jail on the same charges, was also cleared of aggravated wounding. His sentence was cut to six months' home detention.

The wounding sentences were quashed because of an error in Auckland District Court Judge Emma Aitken's directions to the original jury.

Bashan and Akbar Singh left Chahil's Whangaparaoa restaurant on June 10, 2007, because they were unhappy with their pay. That night, six to eight people, including Chahil and Parvinder Singh, arrived unannounced at the Singhs' home. They were assaulted, then taken to separate addresses and detained for some hours.

Appeals by two others involved in the attack, Charanjit Singh and Gupreet Singh, who were sentenced to four months' home detention, were dismissed.

- NZPA