APPROACHING the car of a leering punter, sex worker Shara Millar was hoping to make a few quid – but she was walking into a deadly trap.
Minutes later she was brutally murdered before being dumped on the roadside.
Soho Road in Handsworth, West Midlands, is a notorious red light district by night Credit: Roland Leon
Shara Millar was murdered by a client in August 2025 Credit: West Midlands Police
A heavy police presence was on scene as the murder investigation got underway last year Credit: BPM
Delivery driver Tanveer Singh is due to be sentenced on May 27 Credit: West Midlands Police
Shara was working in the darkened streets of Soho Road, in Handsworth, West Midlands, which has built a notorious reputation as an unsanctioned “red light district”.
When The Jattvibe visited we found a rundown area which locals say is ravaged by drugs and deprivation – with some voicing fears of Ripper-style killers who could prey on prostitutes.
Shara, 41, was murdered by delivery driver Tanveer Singh – who was convicted last week over the brutal attack and will be sentenced on May 27.
Prosecutors said the 32-year-old had paid for sex more than 100 times from a number of different sex workers.
He then fatally strangled 41-year-old Shara last year in the back of his van on an industrial estate near the notorious strip in the early hours of Monday, August 11.
Cops acted quickly to catch him.
They trawled CCTV and traced the rented van back to Singh before arresting him the next day.
Shara’s death, however, has sent a shockwave through the sex work community – and left people fearing for their lives.
Experts told The Jattvibe Shara’s tragic case shows just how vulnerable sex workers still are across Britain.
And they explained the nature of the work and lack of protection for the desperate people who turn to prostitution means the threat looms from predatory men and “Ripper-style” murderers.
Two of Britain’s most brutal killers – The Yorkshire Ripper from the 70s and Jack the Ripper from the late 1800s – preyed on sex workers like Shara.
Sex work is not illegal in the UK – but soliciting in a public place, or “kerb crawling”, is against the law.
The notorious area where Shara had been working, and also where her body was found, is littered with used condoms, including nearby Black Patch Park which is opposite a secondary school.
Now, the only reminder of the brutal murder is a bunch of flowers wedged into the wire of the park fence.
A fellow sex worker – who said she knew Shara – estimated around 20 women regularly sell their bodies in the area, where homelessness and drug addiction are rife.
The jury heard Shara had heroin in her system, with her pal saying many sex workers in the area use drugs, including Black Mamba, a synthetic “zombie drug”, which workers use to numb their emotions during encounters with clients.
She added: “When you are doing sex work it’s the only way to be because it is really scary.”
The woman, who we have chosen not to identify, said the murder has left her and other sex workers terrified for their lives, adding: “A lot of the girls around here became frightened and moved out of the area.”
The friend said she was not surprised that Shara had died through strangulation – as it’s becoming a more common occurrence, usually without consent by violent clients.
“I have had one or two put hands around my neck,” she said.
Police have been cracking down on crime in the area Credit: Roland Leon
A bunch of flowers tied to a fence on Woodburn Road marks where Shara was murdered Credit: Roland Leon
“They just start putting their hands round your neck. It happens to all the girls.
“I have been punched in the face, had my eye gouged – the things some men want to do are disgusting.”
During his trial this month, the court heard Singh was “embarrassed” by his obsession with prostitutes and had previously texted friends saying “Van, Rope, Pills” about a woman on the internet he found attractive.
The night of Shara’s death, Singh had been out drinking heavily and taking cocaine at a pub with pals in nearby Smethwick – before heading to Soho Road in a rented white Mercedes Sprinter van.
He encountered Shara on the adjoining Victoria Road and then drove a mile to Woodburn Road, with CCTV seeing the van pulling up at around 1am.
Minutes later he strangled her to death and, at 1.30am, dumped her body on the nearby pavement where she was found at around 6am by a passer- by.
A 45-year-old who works in a garage almost opposite the murder scene said: “It is a depressing place. You come round here and there’s condoms everywhere.”
“There’s a school round the corner. It’s absolutely disgusting but you have to watch where you step.”
Local Tony, 68, a former care worker said ‘people need opportunities’ to stay out of sex work Credit: Roland Leon
Phil Walcott, 69, who runs Birds restaurant and bar, said the area is becoming more and more rife with drugs and prostitution Credit: Roland Leon
Earlier this month, police launched Operation Fearless in the area – in bid to crackdown on drug dealing, violence and exploitation.
And the Soho Road area was named this week as part of a nationwide crackdown on organised crime on Britain’s high streets.
Trisha, 74, a retired nurse who has lived in the area all her life, said: “We as older people try not to take any notice of everything going on around us.
“The saying is, ‘You see them blind and hear them deaf’, which just means it’s best to mind your own business.
“It can be dangerous around here.”
Phil Walcott, 68, who runs Birds Restaurant and Bar, said: “You will see a lot of prostitutes and those kinds of people.
“It all comes down to drink and drugs. I would say for the past few years it has been getting worse.”
Tony, 68, a former car worker, added: “They talk about lifting people out of poverty but it will take a lot more than a bit more child benefit to do that – people need opportunities and it feels like we have far, far less opportunity now than ever before.”
Shara was found dead after being driven to Woodburn Road by Singh Credit: Roland Leon
Shara’s body was found on the industrial estate hours after her death Credit: BPM
Prosecutors said Singh perhaps thought Shara was “unimportant and disposable” – while cops said he was a “dangerous predator”, and vowed to track down anyone else who is “exploiting vulnerable women”.
But Shara’s friend said: “There’s no protection for us. The police don’t listen to working girls and they’ll do nothing.
“That leaves a lot of dangerous men to just be dangerous with no consequences. You have to protect yourself.”
Ex-Met detective Peter Bleksley told us cops will be reviewing any unsolved cases with similar elements in the area.
And, in his view, he says if Singh hadn’t been stopped he could have killed again.
Drawing comparisons to Yorkshire Ripper, Peter Sutcliffe – who murdered at least 13 sex workers between 1975 and 1980 – Mr Bleksley said: “This story needs to be told far and wide in an attempt to reach out to other possible victims.
“Detectives need to be trawling case files for any elements of this vicious crime being replicated in other unsolved cases.”
Singh – who had originally pleaded guilty to manslaughter – is due to be sentenced for murder before the end of the month. Members of Shara’s family sat in silence in court as jurors gave their verdict.
Mr Bleksley said the hiring of a van, the use of chemicals in an effort to clean the body and going to an industrial estate show how calculated Singh was.
Asked if there is a likelihood that Singh would’ve killed again, the ex-detective said: “Undoubtedly, because people who kill and get away with it feel empowered.
“The criminal history books have shown us that many people go on to kill again.”
He said such killers, like Sutcliffe, will begin by using sex workers and eventually “hold them in such low regard that they see them as a subspecies of human and therefore can be disposed of”.
Former Met detective Peter Bleksley says cops will be trawling through similar cases Credit: Rex Features
‘The Yorkshire Ripper’ Peter Sutcliffe murdered 13 women between 1975 and 1980 Credit: Getty
He added that prostitutes are most at risk because the nature of their business means they operate “in places where they can’t be seen and that in itself creates an element of danger”.
Lawyer Marcus Johnstone, managing director at PCD Solicitors – which specialises in sex crimes – agreed: “A great many of these people live on the periphery of society, where proper policing and oversight is sparse.
“It is therefore no wonder that so many people sadly fall through the cracks, and are left vulnerable to predatory and opportunistic men.”
He went on to say: “Prostitutes being victimised and murdered by dangerous men is unfortunately no new thing.
“We will all remember the Yorkshire Ripper.”
Former Met Superintendent Nusrit Mehtab said Shara’s case very much “highlights the significant vulnerabilities” faced by sex workers.
She said: “Building trust with sex workers is also essential so that they feel able to share intelligence and report concerns without fear of criminalisation, enabling more effective safeguarding and enforcement responses.”
And she added: “Building that confidence is critical not only for safeguarding individuals, but also for improving intelligence gathering and enabling earlier identification of dangerous offenders and patterns of harm.”
The Jattvibe has contacted West Midland Police and the council for comment.
Do you know more? Email ryan.merrifield@thesun.co.uk
