"the defendant had suspected that his wife was having an affair"
Muhammad Javed, aged 59, of Ilford, has been found guilty of his wife’s murder at the Old Bailey.
The “controlling and coercive” husband attacked his wife with a machete and hammer at their home on February 13, 2018, before handing himself in to police.
Javed, who used to work for the Pakistan Air Force, wrongly accused 53-year-old Saeeda Hussain of having an affair and set up CCTV cameras around their home.
Prosecutor Julian Evans explained that Javed had been violent towards the mother-of-five during their marriage.
He said: “Although their children were aware of this violence and the defendant’s mistreatment of his wife, the victim did not want them to report it to the police or to others outside the family.
“She feared that the defendant would be deported.
“She also feared the shame that, in her mind, such revelations would bring.”
Mr Evans added that the couple slept in separate rooms by February 2018.
He stated: “For some time the defendant had suspected that his wife was having an affair or was seeing other men behind his back and, say the prosecution, those suspicions of his were entirely without merit.
“Nevertheless, those suspicions led him to install CCTV cameras at the home address to monitor her behaviour.”
On February 13, Javed attacked his wife of more than 30 years in their living room with a hammer and machete, causing several wounds to her face and head.
Jurors were told that a pathologist identified 70 groups of injuries, most of which were consistent with “chopping actions with a heavy bladed weapon”.
Mrs Hussain also suffered injuries to her hands and arms as she tried to fend off the attack.
The pathologist estimated that there were at least 46 stab wounds and at least seven blows from the hammer.
After murdering his wife, Javed changed his blood-stained clothes, left the weapons near his wife’s body, locked the living room door and left through a window.
He then contacted his daughter’s father-in-law and told him:
“You are going to hear very bad news.”
At approximately 6 pm, Javed walked into Ilford Police Station and told an officer: “I have just killed my wife.”
The jury deliberated for half a day before finding Javed guilty of his wife’s murder.
Judge Rebecca Poulet QC thanked jurors for their consideration of the “terrible and tragic case”.
Muhammad Javed is to remain in custody until June 21, 2019, when he will be sentenced.
DI John Marriott, of the Met Police’s Homicide and Major Crime Command, said:
“The only person who ever thought Saeeda was cheating was Javed, and this was the product of his own warped mind.”
“I have no doubt that Javed planned this assault to coincide with a time when he knew his family were away from the home.
“He probably donned the boiler suit, which we found blood-spattered, to avoid getting his wife’s blood on his clothes.
“Javed was controlling and violent and this escalated in the brutal murder of his wife, Saeeda.
“If ever a case shows the importance of contacting police if you are in, or aware of, an abusive relationship, then this is it.”
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