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Man admits to killing homosexual Hindu priest in UK

An unemployed white man has told a court in Nottingham how he stabbed a prominent Hindu priest from Leicester to avoid having sex with him.

Dean Riddell, 26, of no fixed address, admits to killing Harish Purohit by stabbing him in the neck, chest, back and abdomen, but denies murder. He has told the Nottingham crown court that he stabbed Purohit in self-defence after the priest allegedly abducted and tried to sexually assault him.

Purohit bled to death after he was stabbed to death last October. His murder sent shock waves through the Indian community in Leicester, of which he was a prominent member.

Subsequent police inquiries revealed that Purohit, a married man, led a double life and was an active homosexual.

At Tuesday's court hearing, Joan Butler, Queen's counsel, prosecuting, told how Riddell met Purohit, 42, and was aware he was an "extremely promiscuous" homosexual who would pay for sex.

"The defendant now admits he was carrying a knife," Butler told the court.

"We say Riddell was picked up in Leicester by the deceased and there was going to be some sort of sexual activity for which Mr Purohit was going to pay."

Butler also argued that after Purohit was killed at his family-owned home on Harrison Road, Riddell tried to cover his tracks by setting fire to the property.

The fire failed to take hold, but smoke alerted neighbours, who contacted Purohit's father and younger brother. They found the priest of the city's Shree Shakti Mandir stabbed to death near the front door.

Purohit's older brother Janardan said last October that the house where he was found was being renovated and the family believed that Harish had gone there to check on the work.

"When my brother and father got there the windows had turned black from smoke and they couldn't see in. They tried getting in the front door, but a sofa was blocking the way," Janardan Purohit said.

"They found my brother lying in a pool of blood in a downstairs room. There were multiple wounds. It had obviously been a vicious attack.

"We think the person who did this got out through the back door and started the fire to try to get rid of the evidence. The gas had also been left on."

Immediately afterwards police launched a massive poster and leaflet campaign in the area where the murdered man's BMW was found in the hunt for witnesses.

Another line of inquiry started when officers announced that they were looking for five men seen near the house where the body was found. They also confirmed that they were conducting inquiries in gay clubs, where Purohit was well known.

Last year Purohit's younger brother Jai told the media, "We want above anything for those who did this to be caught. Over Diwali, Harish was missed by everyone, especially the younger members of the Hindu community.

"He would have conducted religious ceremonies for them and business people here at the temple and given away hundreds of boxes of sweets.

"We have had around 3,000 messages of sympathy and people are arriving every day to pay their respects."

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