The BBC documentary series Murder 24/7 returns with a harrowing focus on the brutal murder of DPD driver Aurman Singh in Shrewsbury in August 2023. The 23-year-old was attacked by eight men wielding a golf club and an axe, suffering a fatal head injury. The programme follows West Mercia Police as they investigate the case, which the lead detective describes as a 'beast of a job'. Doorbell camera footage captures the moment of the attack, with one witness noting Singh's eyes were 'fixed open'.
The series dedicates two and a half episodes to Singh's murder, providing an hour-by-hour account of the investigation. Viewers see police interviews with suspects, including Arshdeep Singh (no relation), who eventually gives an account of events. The real intrigue comes from watching interview specialist DS Alex Sullivan remotely strategising when to reveal evidence, such as video footage of a suspect disposing of a weapon in a wheelie bin. The work of DCI Mark Bellamy and his 45-strong team is painstaking, with one suspect's phone records alone yielding 141,000 pages of calls and messages.
However, the review questions the ethics of such detailed coverage. While the investigation is compelling, the programme offers little insight into the killers' motivations or a portrait of the victim. The focus remains on the mechanics of the killing, complete with 3D reconstructions of where weapons struck the skull, rather than who Aurman Singh was. This voyeuristic tendency extends to other cases in the series, such as that of an elderly man suspected of trying to kill himself and his son after his wife's death, where the other family members remain off-camera.
The series does succeed in highlighting the toll on police officers, with Bellamy's permanent frown evidence of the strain. But the review argues that without understanding the victims or the motives, viewers are left gawking at horror rather than gaining meaningful insight. The episode focusing on domestic abuser Damian Homer feels more complete, as it includes testimony from his former partner and shifts focus to the insidious nature of intimate partner violence.
