Mohammed Shah Subhani: Amraj Poonia convicted of murder

A man who killed his friend and dumped his partially burnt body in a shallow grave has been convicted of murder.

Amraj Poonia killed Mohammed Shah Subhani and then rolled his body up in carpet at Poonia's plumbing shop in Hounslow, west London, on 7 May 2019.

The case was initially treated as a missing person's inquiry but his body was found about six months later after an informant spoke to police.

Poonia, 27, was found guilty after a trial at the Old Bailey.

The court heard that later on the day 27-year-old Mr Subhani was killed, Poonia "unashamedly" visited Mr Subhani's family and behaved as though he was concerned about his disappearance.

Later in 2019, a person walked into a police station, admitted taking part in the disposal of Mr Subhani's body and named his killer.

Mr Subhani's body was then found in woodland in Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire. The court heard Poonia killed Mr Subhani in a row over some missing cannabis.

Members of Mr Subhani's family wept in court as the jury returned verdicts, after nearly 40 hours of deliberations.

Following the verdict, the victim's sister Iqra Subhani said: "After losing Shah it is a different world that we're in. Nothing's the same. You just don't know how to get by."

She described the actions of Poonia, a former family friend, as "treachery and betrayal".

"To kill my brother and then to come to my house the same night, saying that you're helping us find him - you can only imagine how heartless these people are," she said.

Poonia's brother Raneel, 26, and Gurditta Singh, also 26, were cleared of murder.

Mohanad Riad, 23, and Mahamud Ismail, 26, were found guilty of perverting the course of justice. Another defendant, Mohammed Shakeel, 29, was cleared of that charge.

The convicted defendants were remanded into custody to be sentenced on a date yet to be set.

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