London:
Prince Charles, the heir to the British throne, has described popular NRI shopkeeper Gurmail Singh, bludgeoned to death with wine bottles, as a "special person".
In the aftermath of the tragedy, Prince Charles, in a condolence message to the widow of 63 year-old Gurmail Singh said: "This country can ill-afford to lose such special people."
"He was a decent hard-working man, devoted to his family dedicated to his community and scrupulously honest," Prince Charles said.
Singh was killed when he resisted a group of youths who were trying to steal from his "open all hours" corner shop in Huddersfield West Yorkshire.
His courage cost him his life.
Yesterday, the two thugs who battered the 63-year-old over the head with wine bottles from his shelves were convicted of murder.
Muawaz Khalid, 20, and Nabeel Shafi, 18, shattered his skull with repeated blows and fled the scene, despite valiant attempts by members of the public to restrain them.
Singh, who came to the UK from India in 1963, had suffered another raid on his store two days before he died in February.
He was attacked for just a few pounds, some sweets, alcohol and cigarettes, Bradford Crown Court heard.
The thugs hit him at least seven times over the head when he did not meekly hand over his property, his hard-earned money.
People standing outside a pub opposite the shop realised something was wrong when they saw two men run from the scene.
One man trapped the remaining two gang members inside by holding the front door shut, but they got out of a back door.
Both these suspects were tackled by other members of the public but managed to get away, the court was told.
Afzal and Shafi pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to robbing Singh. Khan, who was released from custody 20 days before the robbery after serving a sentence for assault, admitted a charge of assisting an offender.
All five men, from Huddersfield, were remanded in custody until sentencing on November 16.