'Manipulative' driver jailed for murdering woman

A delivery driver who attacked and killed a woman in the back of a van has been jailed for 29 years.

Shara Millar, 41, was found dead at an industrial estate in Smethwick on 11 August.

Tanveer Singh, 32, was out with friends the night before, drinking heavily and taking cocaine, the jury at his trial heard, and he had sought services from Millar, who was a sex worker at the time.

During Wednesday's hearing, he was described to Wolverhampton Crown Court as a "manipulative and cynical young man... not truly remorseful."

Shara Millar's brother, Lathon Millar, told the court, in his victim impact statement, that his sister was a vibrant but vulnerable individual who faced significant challenges.

He said she was forced to leave their family's home when she was 15 and started smoking cannabis along with other drugs.

"Before drugs took hold of her, she was such a bright and full-of-life person, and would liven up any place she was in," he added.

Lathon Millar said all five of her children were later taken into care and he felt she did not recover from that, which pushed her towards continuing to take drugs.

"Shara now believed that she had no chance at all with the children and decided that all she could do was move away," he added.

She relocated to Lincoln where she fell into using heroin, crack cocaine and became a sex worker to pay for her habit.

"She just wanted to be loved, the way she gave love to others," he added.

The court heard that, by August, Shara Millar was trapped in a cycle of drug addiction.

Singh took the mother of five to the back of his van, "sliding the door behind the two of you, she was in effect trapped", the hearing was told.

A post-mortem examination revealed she had been strangled and the court heard Singh used a "deliberate act of squeezing".

He then "discarded her naked body amongst a pile of rubbish".

Millar's was found in just her bra and with one shoe on her foot, police said.

Singh had poured AdBlue - a chemical used in diesel cars - over her body in a bid to get rid of forensic evidence.

"She refused some particular sexual request, probably to choke her for pure sexual gratification, causing you to attack her," the judge said.

"Shara was a mother, a daughter, and a sister, never living to know the fact that she was about to become a grandmother," the court heard.

Singh, of Leopard Lane, West Bromwich, was convicted of her murder earlier this month.

Det Insp Joe Davenport said: "Singh was drinking in a pub earlier in the night and visited Soho Road to look for sex workers. He then picked Shara up in his van and she was fatally attacked.

"My thoughts are with Shara's loved ones, and I thank them for the support during this investigation and trial."

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