Namdhari leader`s UK attacker wanted to scare him

London: A Britain-based call centre worker on trial for attacking Namdhari sect leader Satguru Uday Singh with an axe has told the court he bought the weapon with the intention of scaring his victim.

Harjit Singh Toor admits wounding but denies the attempted murder of the Sikh leader at a gurdwara in Leicester last year. He had earlier claimed the attack was planned in revenge for being sexually assaulted by Uday Singh in India in the 1990s. "I was toying back and forth. I wanted to hurt Uday, I wanted to cause him harm. I remember thinking, as I was walking up to him, that I just wanted to scare him... And make him realise that I hadn`t forgot," the 27-year-old told the jury at Birmingham Crown Court yesterday. "My emotions just erupted and I just remember wanting to hurt his hands. That`s when I charged up on to the stage and swung the axe. It`s probably the biggest mistake I have ever made in my life. I accept what I have done was wrong," he added. According to local court reports, Toor denied disguising himself as a Namdhari to fool other worshippers at the temple, although he accepted that he had concealed the axe under a shawl. Giving evidence via video link from the Namdhari headquarters in Bhaini Sahib near Ludhiana earlier this week, Uday Singh had rejected claims he had abused Toor as "totally absurd". The prosecution alleges last August`s attack at a packed Gurdwara Namdhari Temple on Linden Street, Leicester, was motivated by religious hatred. The trial is expected to conclude at the end of this week.