Taxi Driver killed Wife with Hammer & Knife as Children Slept

Sajid Pervez, aged 37, of Leeds, was jailed for life after he murdered his wife in a cocaine-fuelled frenzy. The taxi driver attacked his wife with a hammer and a knife while their children slept.

Leeds Crown Court heard that he struck Abida Karim with a hammer at least 15 times before slitting her throat.

Pervez had subjected Mrs Karim to years of domestic abuse and that he was in a cocaine-fuelled frenzy at the time of the killing.

The attack happened in the middle of the night on September 24, 2020, at their home in Leeds as their children slept.

Pervez later left the property, called 999 and told an operator that he had killed his wife but did not want his children to find the body.

Police and paramedics went to the house and found Mrs Karim’s body with the weapons nearby.

The couple’s eldest children told police how their father had subjected their mother to years of physical and psychological abuse.

A statement from the couple’s eldest daughter read:

“I have pictured this day since I was five years old.”

The attack happened 10 days after Mrs Karim returned from a trip to Pakistan to attend her father’s funeral.

At one point, Pervez told his children:

“When Mum comes back from Pakistan watch what I do to her. I do not care about police and you will be shocked.”

The taxi driver, who was described as “horrible, abusive and manipulative” by his children, also bought a large knife which he brought into the house just days before the attack.

He had previously threatened to burn down the family home if he was ever reported to the police.

Describing the night of the murder, Mrs Karim’s daughter said:

“My mum did not even scream.

“Normally when she is beaten up I can hear her shouting, I can hear her scream. I didn’t hear my mum this morning.

“The timing of this killing may not have been settled in his mind but preparations for it certainly were made.”

After handing himself in, Pervez told police that he had taken around half a gram of cocaine.

A doctor assessed him as having a personality disorder made worse by his use of alcohol, cocaine and cannabis.

Pervez pleaded guilty to murder on January 12, 2021.

In mitigation, Nick Johnson QC said Pervez had seen domestic violence in his own family growing up.

He explained: “His life and life choices were decided and controlled for him from an early age, involving his arranged marriage from the age of 17.”

Judge Simon Phillips told the taxi driver he was satisfied that he had planned to kill his wife based on his behaviour towards his family prior to the incident.

“You wanted them to know that you had the capacity and the preparedness to do something seismic and catastrophic within a family context.”

Pervez received a life sentence and must serve a minimum of 22-and-a-half years.

After sentencing, eldest daughter Sawaira Sajid said:

“Our mother was the most precious woman who dedicated her whole life to her husband and seven children.

“She was a devoted wife and mother who always put her family first.

“She was married to our father for 21 years and she experienced domestic abuse throughout her whole marriage.”

“We tried to help her but she would say, ‘things will get better and you will always need him as he is your father’.

“She never disclosed what she was going through to the community, her friends or her family as she was holding on to the very little amount of hope she had that things would get better.

“On the night of September 23, we had no clue it would be the last meal our mother would cook for us, the last time we spent with her, the last time we got to see her smile and the last time we got to feel her presence.

“We did not know that we would be going to sleep and waking up with police officers in our home telling us that our mother has been murdered, leaving us absolutely heartbroken and devastated.

“Since that day we have craved her presence and our hearts have been empty.

“Our mother is a hero to us, she fought for her kids and family till her last breath.”

Senior Investigating Officer Detective Inspector Natalie Dawson said:

“Abida Karim’s family remain utterly devastated about her murder at the hands of her husband in appallingly violent circumstances in the family home.

“Sajid Pervez has robbed his own children of their mother and, although he has now been held accountable, we recognise that no amount of time in prison could ever properly compensate them for such a dreadful loss.”