A court has heard how a drunken man battered his father to death with a bottle of Bollinger after the pensioner discovered his son’s secret booze stash.
Deekan Vig, 54, was found lying on the floor naked amongst 100 bottles of champagne next to his dead father, Arjan Singh Vig, 86, at the family home in Southgate, north London.
Giving evidence wearing a grey tracksuit, Vig described how his father, furious at his son’s drinking, had brandished a bottle of bubbly at him during a fight on 30 October 2021.
Deekan Vig pleaded not guilty to the charge of murder at a hearing at the Old Bailey.
Police had been called to the family home on Chelmsford Avenue, in Southgate, North London, at around 9:41pm on October 30, 2021 after reports of a ‘disturbance’.
Vig told the court he had gone to great lengths to hide his champagne collection because his dad did not like alcohol for religious reasons.
“He was gripping the bottle.,” Deekan Vig told the Old Bailey.
“I began to wrestle with him because I wanted to grab the bottle from him.
“I managed to get a good grip on the bottle and wrench it out of his hand.
“I was feeling scared and intimidated and pretty shaken. I was thinking why has he done this?
“I think it was because he doesn't like alcohol, he doesn't like alcohol at all.
“This is something that is so secret and almost sacred and yet he was taking the bottle and almost taking the nick.
“I was naked and I was embarrassed, why was he in my room anyway? He never comes into my room.
“I'd gone to great lengths to keep this order a secret and he goes over and holds the bottle to my face and says "oh, look at this."
“I just wanted to get that bottle from him and then get away from him.
“He'd been disarmed and I want to escape from him, I tried to push back on him and then we were pushing and like mutual wrestling grabbing each other's forearms.
“After that I pushed him quite forcefully towards the door. He fell towards the door and managed to shut it with the palms of his hands.
“I was completely exhausted and I basically collapsed by the side of my bed and sat down.
“He grabbed my shins quite tightly and then was thrusting his legs out. His feet were pushing hard against my chest.
“I felt incredible pressure on my chest and I couldn't breathe properly.
“I gasped out ‘I'm dying, I'm dying’ because I couldn't breathe.
“I tried to grab his shins and get him away, dislodge his feet. He was so strong, they felt like concrete pillars coming towards me.
“'I was struggling to grab a bottle from behind me. I flung it really forcefully as hard as I could, I just wanted to stop him from pummelling my chest.
“I threw it overarm with my right arm as hard as I could."
“I did it with several bottles. He continued to come towards me and I threw another one.
“After several throws it just went all quiet and on the last throw I saw this huge amount of blood just splatter everywhere, like an explosion.
“His head was on the back wall and blood came out, it was just horrific and he suddenly went silent, dead quiet.”
Vig's mother Damanjit Veer, 85, said in recorded video evidence that Vig had gone for a walk at around 7.30pm.
She said: “I had toast and tea and then my milk at half past eight before our religious programme.
“When we were watching at about 9pm we heard a bang bang from Deekan's room.. It was very loud, like he's hitting something.
“Normally when we watch our programme he'll come downstairs and get a cup of tea or get something out of the freezer for dinner, but he didn't that evening.
“We thought the banging was a bit more than usual but we were not that concerned, we were too engrossed in our religious programme.
“At half past nine our programme finishes. That's when I heard vomiting noises from his bedroom.
“I said to Arjan, come quickly, Deekan's vomiting.
“'I stood outside because two people can't fit into that room. I saw Deekan was sitting on his leather chair, he wasn't wearing a shirt.
“Deekan was saying "ooh, I'm too hot, I'm burning, I'm dying, I'm dying, it's 200 degrees.
“Arjan was slowly comforting him telling him to calm down.
“Deekan said he has had half a bottle of whisky. It was a surprise because he never drinks. He also mentioned he'd had a quarter of a bottle the night before. He wasn't himself.
“He was out of control, he was drunk.”
She went to ring her daughter, who phoned the police.
Deekan, of Southgate, admits manslaughter but denies murder, claiming he did not intend to kill his father.
The trial continues.
