Gambling Husband cut and stabbed Wife after Row Over Money

The Old Bailey heard that Jalal Uddin, aged 47, of Poplar, East London, was a gambling husband who allegedly launched a vicious knife attack on his wife.

He attacked mother-of-three Asma Begum, aged 31, at the family home in East London on January 11, 2019.

It was heard that Uddin stabbed his wife following an argument over money.

The prosecutor Daniel Robinson QC explained to the jury that there were so many cuts to Mrs Begum’s face that a pathologist could not count them all.

Mr Robinson said: “She was cut, stabbed, slashed or chopped at with the knife at least 58 times.

“Such was the ferocity of the attack that pieces of the knife blade broke off in her face.”

He added that Mrs Begum’s hands were badly cut, with one almost severed at the wrist.

The court heard a pathologist described the amount of force used as “extreme”.

Mr Robinson suggested the attack happened during an argument about money.

He said: “According to members of their extended family, the couple had been arguing since the day before the killing about money, and the argument turned violent.”

Jurors heard that on the morning of the attack, Mrs Begum had told her sister that Uddin had hit her the night before.

Mr Robinson explained that the couple were originally from Bangladesh and had married in 2007. They lived in a flat in City Island Way, across the river from the O2 Arena.

Uddin worked as a chef at an Indian restaurant in Eltham, South-East London, and was known to have a gambling problem.

In 2016, Mrs Begum reported her gambling husband to the police for being verbally abusive and violent towards her.

She told officers he would beat her when they argued about money.

However, she did not want to give evidence against her husband and they got back together.

Mrs Begum also allegedly told a housing officer in November 2016 that Uddin would hit her when she refused to hand over her housekeeping money to feed his gambling habit.

Uddin was known as the “angry Indian” at an East London betting shop. It was claimed that he would hit gaming machines when he was losing.

One staff member said he had lost more than £1,000 on the machines in one visit.

At the time of Mrs Begum’s death, Uddin had defaulted on a bank loan that he took out in September 2016 for more than £16,000.

The East London Advertiser reported that Uddin pleaded guilty to manslaughter but denies murder. The trial continues.