But he tried to attack her with a knife.
An abusive husband with a “medieval” attitude towards his wife has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for attacking her with a knife.
Preston Crown Court heard that Fayaz Khan, who had children from a previous marriage, tied the knot with his current wife in Pakistan when he was in his 30s and she was 17.
The pair had not met before their wedding.
Judge Heather Lloyd said their relationship was controlling and abusive, with “medieval” Khan treating his wife “like a slave”.
She said his wife was not fluent in English despite living here for 25 years, was barely allowed out of the house, and did not even know the geography of the streets immediately around her own home in Burnley.
These indicated how much Khan controlled her life.
In August 2023, a neighbour called the police after hearing Khan shouting aggressively at his wife.
Officers went to the house and Khan’s wife made a complaint.
But the judge said: “She then gave a retraction statement, not saying it was not true but that she did not want to go on.”
It had been a police officer who had advised the woman to make the retraction, which the judge called “shameful”.
In December 2023, Khan turned up at the family home, claiming to bring a gift of fruit to his estranged wife.
But he tried to attack her with a knife.
It was heard that only the thickness of the clothes she was wearing and the intervention of his son prevented her from being seriously injured.
Judge Lloyd said Khan’s heavily pregnant daughter-in-law also helped prevent him from getting back into the house and was taken to hospital to check her unborn baby had not been harmed.
Throughout the trial, Khan denied any wrongdoing and claimed to have been “poisoned, abused and bullied by his family”.
Joe Allman, defending, admitted there was little mitigation and that the pre-sentence report by the probation service made for “depressing reading”.
Khan had some previous convictions for violence and drug possession, the most recent being in 1987.
Mr Allman highlighted the 69-year-old’s health problems.
Judge Lloyd recognised Khan’s ill health but said it had not been sufficient to stop him from attacking his wife.
She told Khan his family had begun living in fear of him and that he showed no remorse for his crimes.
She said:
“You have absolutely no insight into your behaviour – criminal or otherwise – towards your wife or your family.”
The judge said Khan had to be sentenced as a dangerous offender, stating that “away from the family you have boasted about the fights and gangs you have been involved with over the past five decades”.
Khan was sentenced to 15 years for attempted Section 18 wounding, with 10 to be served in custody.
An indefinite restraining order remains in place.
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