Kiwi man criticises UK police for blunders in murder case

A New Zealand man says the ruthless gang that abducted and murdered his mother, sister and her family almost got away with it because of a string of police blunders.

Onkar Verma told Britain's Guardian newspaper he was critical of police for a catalogue of errors that almost allowed the murderers to go scot-free.

He was astounded that police at first fell for the lies and deceptions set up by the criminals instead of checking the gangsters' backgrounds.

Mr Verma said he had to fly from New Zealand to demand the disappearances be treated as suspicious.

Kenneth Regan, 55, a drug dealer, and his henchman, William Horncy, 52, were found guilty at the Old Bailey in London on Friday of murdering Mr Verma's mother, Charanjit Kaur, 51, his sister, Nancy Chohan, 24, and her millionaire husband, Amarjit Chohan, 45, and their two young sons, Devinder and Ravinder.

A third man, Peter Rees, 39, was found guilty of murdering Mr Chohan, 45, but cleared of the other murders. The three, found guilty by a jury after 13 days of deliberation, will be sentenced tomorrow. .

The gang had planned to take over Mr Chohan's freight business and use it to smuggle cocaine.

After killing Mr Chohan, they wiped out his wife, two sons and mother-in-law to ensure their silence.

Prosecutor Richard Horwell said the trio might have succeeded had it not been for Mr Verma.

- NZPA