A SICKENING'' three year sentence for a bully'' who shot a party-goer in the head at point blank range was denounced this week by the victim's family.

On Friday, Manjit Singh Sangha, 31, unemployed and of Muswell Hill, received three years in jail for the reckless manslaughter of Sukhbir Singh Pattowala, whom he shot in the head at close range, after both had attended a 21st birthday party at the Agra restaurant, in Hounslow, last October.

Sangha had denied murder, but admitted reckless manslaughter'', and portrayed the events of October 20th as an accident'', claiming that he was a friend of Mr Pattowala. Had he been found guilty of murder, he would have faced a life sentence.

This week, Indy Pattowala, Sukhbir's sister-in-law, told the Times that her family is sickened'' by the sentence her brother's killer received.

She said: We, the family, can't even begin to tell how let down we feel. After Sukhbir's murder, our only hope was for his killer to be punished adequately.

We cannot understand how a gunshot wound, at close range to the head, can be a mistake'. Neither can we understand how life imprisonment was not given.

The message this gives out is that the law is lenient, and encourages crime and the system encourages gun culture.

Because of this we can't move on in our grief. Instead it feels like it's happened again.''

She went on to scorn the defence's portrayal of the two men as friends'': The defence claimed that Sangha killed a friend'' accidentally, I would like to make it very clear that Sangha and Sukhbir were by no means friends. This is a hurtful lie.

Pritham (Sukhbir's mother) was sobbing uncontrollably when the sentence was read out - Sangha grinned and punched the air. That is not the action of a friend.

They weren't friends at all - he tried to portray them as friends. We, the family, want people to know that they were no such thing.

Sukhbir was an innocent person attending a friends birthday party, from which he never came back. We feel let down by the Criminal prosecution service.

After this three year sentence, his killer will come back and do it to someone else. That is the kind of person he is. ''

DCI Norman McKinlay said: This crime was absolutely disgusting - I am aware that the family are disappointed with the sentence. All I am allowed to say is that the Police investigation revealed Sangha was a bully, who was made worse when in possession of alcohol and a firearm.

As a result, an innocent young man died.''

A police source confirmed that Sangha was a very dangerous man''.

Sangha has a previous conviction for unlawful wounding and intent to cause grievous bodily harm, relating to an incident were he attacked someone with a broken bottle.

Witnesses to October's shooting had failed to come forward.

July 16, 2002 11:00