"I remember feeling like she died like a lawyer."
A pregnant lawyer who was murdered by her husband helped to jail him from beyond the grave.
Fawziyah Javed and her unborn child were killed when Kashif Anwar pushed Fawziyah off a cliff at Arthur’s Seat in Edinburgh in September 2021.
The couple had been on their honeymoon, having been married in December 2020.
Lying critically injured, employment lawyer Fawziyah told a passer-by about the attack.
She said: “Don’t let my husband near me, he pushed me.”
Prosecutor Alex Prentice KC said Fawziyah had secretly recorded phone calls where Anwar threatened her and went to the police twice to report his abusive behaviour.
She made another report just days before she was killed.
A two-part Channel 4 documentary confirmed how a lot of evidence collected by Fawziyah formed a major part of the prosecution case.
Mr Prentice said: “The evidence of what Fawziyah said was crucial.
“It was effectively Fawziyah speaking to the jury. I have prosecuted many murder cases over the course of my career but for a variety of reasons this case is extraordinary.”
Mr Prentice, who spoke to the makers of The Push documentary, said it would have been “very difficult” to convict Anwar without the evidence.
Fawziyah’s friend and colleague Ingrid said:
“She built this massive mountain of evidence culminating with giving a statement to the police on the verge of her dying.
“The fact she was a lawyer with all the legal training, I do think she must have thought about leaving this evidence behind. I remember feeling like she died like a lawyer.”
Fawziyah’s mother Yasmin Javed feared Anwar might kill again if he was let off.
She said: “He has got to be punished. He can’t do this to another family, I can’t have another family going through this.”
At the time of Fawziyah’s death, Anwar was heard talking to a 999 operator. He said:
“Fawziyah’s just on the edge of the cliff, man. We both just slipped, I tried grabbing her arm and she fell.”
“We both technically slipped and then I tried grabbing her arm and she went sideways.”
Anwar denied murder but was convicted of the charge and on April 6, 2023, at Edinburgh’s High Court, he was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum of 20 years.
Judge Lord Beckett told Anwar at the time:
“You have been found guilty of murdering Fawziyah Javed who was a very special person.
“She was your pregnant wife and you also caused the death of your unborn child.”
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