Son who bludgeoned father to death found naked with blood-stained bottle of Champagne
A son who bludgeoned his elderly father to death was found naked with a blood-stained bottle of Champagne.
Deekan Singh Vig, 54, was found guilty on Friday of murdering 86-year-old shopkeeper Arjan Singh Vig at the family home in north London.
The Old Bailey was told how officers found the body of Mr Vig on the floor of his son’s bedroom with his head “caved in”.
Vig was discovered naked and surrounded by about 100 bottles of Champagne, including blood-stained Veuve Cliquot and Bollinger on the evening of 30 October 2021.
“I killed my dad,” he said. “I hit him over the head with a f***ing bloody bottle of Bollinger Champagne.”
Vig had admitted manslaughter but was found guilty of murder after a jury deliberated for less than a day. His sentencing has been adjourned until 10 February.
Deanna Heer KC, prosecuting, previously told how the victim had been hit repeatedly in the face and head with a full bottle of champagne causing extensive injuries and almost immediate death.
Vig had lived with his father and mother Damanjit, 85, in their four-bedroom detached home for about 40 years, while his younger sister Rippan lived with her partner, jurors heard.
His family had moved to Britain from Uganda when he was aged five – at the time Idi Amin expelled members of the Asian community from the east African country.
Vig’s father was a qualified accountant while his mother, a zoologist, worked as a teacher.
The court heard Vig helped his father in the family business but had developed a taste for alcohol during the Covid lockdown.
On the evening of the murder, his parents came home and sat down in front of the television. Mrs Vig then heard vomiting noises from her son’s room and he told her he had consumed half a bottle of whisky. The last thing she saw was her husband comforting their son, jurors were told.
Mrs Vig then proceeded to call her daughter because her son appeared “out of control” and “drunk” and she in turn dialed 999.
An officer tried to pushed open the defendant’s door and, looking through a gap, saw Mr Vig’s head covered in blood.
The defendant said he could not open the door, saying: “You’re too late. He’s been dead for an hour.”
Through tears, he later said: “My dad is dead. I killed my dad. I hit him over the head with a f***ing b****y bottle of Bollinger Champagne. Why did I kill my dad?”
He added: “Oh s***. I killed my dad. He could have just died from a heart attack. I f***ing hit him with a bottle of f***ing Champagne...I hate French Champagne.”
Police uncovered 100 bottles of Champagne, 10 Amazon delivery boxes of whisky bottles, and an empty bottle of Talisker Scotch on the bed.
Beside Mr Vig’s body were two bottles of Champagne with a “significant amount” of blood on them.
A post-mortem examination identified injuries “entirely consistent with an assault with a full Champagne bottle”, Ms Heer said.
Giving evidence during the trial, Vig claimed he had autism and that his father had attacked him.
With additional reporting from PA
