Dirty Business indie to explore 2011 killing of Gagandip Singh in Aysha Rafaele-penned series

The indie behind breakout Channel 4 scripted success Dirty Business is lining up its next factual drama for the broadcaster.

Halcyon’s Heart Films is producing two-part Vengeance: Murder on the Heath an exploration into the murder of 21-year-old Gagandip Singh by his friend Harvinder ‘Ravi’ Shoker 15 years ago.

The story gained national media interest, swiftly billed as the ‘Honeytrap Murder’, due to the role of Mundill Mahil, with whom Gagandip had cultivated a close friendship. While Singh, a TV entrepreneur and Sikh community influencer, was keen on a romantic relationship with Mahil, the student doctor accused him of sexual assault when he turned up at her house one evening. 

Though Singh pleaded forgiveness, Mahil confided in Shoker, who was also in love with her, and together they concocted a plan to teach Singh a lesson by luring him back to the house in Brighton. After sustaining a brutal beating which left him unconscious, he was shoved into the boot of a car, which was driven to Blackheath before being set on fire. A post-mortem revealed Singh had been alive when the car was lit, ultimately dying from inhaling toxic fumes.

Mahil, Shoker and his accomplice Darren Peters were all charged with murder, but each was handed different convictions and wildly different sentences. Shoker was convicted of murder and given 22 years, Peters 12 years for manslaughter and Mahil received a six-year conviction for GBH with intent.

Vengeance: Murder on the Heath stars Sasha Desouza-Willock (Adult Material) as Mahil, Dee Ahluwalia (Buddha of Suburbia) as Singh and Ikky Kabir (Bait) as Shoker among others.

Halcyon’s Heart’s drama draws on police interviews, text messages, court documents and interviews to explore a complex tale of crime and punishment. It is written and directed by Bafta-winning Aysha Rafaele (Person of Interest, Murdered by My Father, Dirty Business).

It was commissioned for Channel 4 by specialist factual chief Shaminder Nahal. Meeshan Saxena and Arzoo Patankar produce the drama, which is exec produced by Joseph Bullman.

Vengeance: Murder on the Heath follows on the heels of Halcyon’s Heart’s hit Dirty Business, a dramatised account of the water pollution scandal, which aired in February and drew a 28-day consolidated audience of 1.9m (12.1%) across its three episodes, ahead of the 1m (7.3%) benchmark.

Rafaele said: “As a British Asian film maker with a background in documentaries, I am fascinated by real stories from our community that are both specific to the culture but also resonate well beyond it.

“Everything about the shocking murder of Gagandip Singh and the circumstances surrounding it was to prove extraordinary. How young everyone involved in the case was, how an accusation of attempted rape led to these young people taking the law into their own hands – playing at being God themselves – instead of just going to the police, and how this vigilante style justice backfired so horrifically.

“It’s a haunting crime that continues to cast a long shadow and I am proud to have been able to work with such a talented young cast of up-and-coming British Asian actors to bring this devastating story to C4.”

Nahal added: “This powerful and gripping series takes us straight into the hearts and minds of a group of young people navigating a messy world of blurred lines, fear, shame and violence.

“Aysha, who has created and contributed to an astonishing body of work at C4, brings her unique vision and storytelling to an urgent series that asks big questions about modern Britain, what justice means and whether revenge can ever be justified.”