Husband who stabbed wife as she pushed baby in pram found guilty of murder
A 'violent, jealous, controlling' husband who stabbed his wife to death as she pushed their baby in a pram after tracking her to a women's refuge has been found guilty of murder.
Habibur Masum launched a 'ferocious' knife attack in broad daylight on Kulsuma Akter before leaving her 'bleeding to death in the gutter' and calmly walking away, leaving their seven-month-old son behind.
A court heard Masum, 26, followed Ms Akter, 27, to a refuge in Bradford where she had been staying to escape him after he held a knife to her throat following an assault at their home in Greater Manchester.
After finding her through her phone location, Masum was seen on CCTV in the days leading up to the fatal attack 'loitering, watching and waiting' in streets around the hostel, jurors heard.
He sent her messages threatening to kill her family members if she did not return to him, before trying to lure her out by sending her fake messages from a local GP practice pretending their son had an appointment and warning of 'increasingly dire consequences' if she did not attend.
Bradford Crown Court heard Ms Akter eventually felt safe enough to leave the refuge on April 6 last year after Masum updated his Facebook page falsely claiming to be in Spain.
As she was walking in the city centre with a friend, pushing her baby in a pram, Masum confronted her, the trial heard.
He was seen on CCTV trying to steer Ms Akter and the pram away before pulling a knife from his jacket and launching the 'brutal attack' when he realised she was not coming with him, prosecutor Stephen Wood KC told jurors.
CCTV footage of the attack, played during the trial, captured Ms Akter's screams as Masum stabbed her at least 25 times, put her on the ground and kicked her 'as a final insult' before lifting her head and deliberately cutting her throat.
Mr Wood said the 'smiling killer' then calmly walked through Bradford city centre and was seen on CCTV grinning as he got on a bus, 'believing at that point he was getting away'.
Jurors heard Masum travelled almost 200 miles south to Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, and was arrested in the early hours of April 9 in a car park near Stoke Mandeville Hospital, where he had gone to be treated for 'lockjaw'.
During the trial, Masum refused to watch footage of the attack but jurors heard that during his first police interview he requested to see it, with Mr Wood saying he wanted to see what officers 'had on him'.
When he gave evidence, Masum said he did not remember killing his wife and had taken a knife with him intending to stab himself in front of her if she did not 'listen to him'.
He broke down in tears as he claimed to have 'lost control' when Ms Akter told him there would be no shortage of people willing to replace him as a father to their son.
But Mr Wood said his tears 'were as fake as his claims of self harm' and that 'the only person Habibur Masum feels sorry for is himself'.
He said antagonising Masum was 'the very last thing Kulsuma would do' as she knew what he was capable of.
Mr Wood said the relationship between Masum and Ms Akter was 'an abusive relationship characterised by his jealousy, possessiveness and controlling behaviour'.
Jurors heard the couple met and married in Bangladesh, and came to the UK in 2022 after he obtained a student visa and enrolled on a Masters course to study marketing.
The defendant, who gave evidence through a Bengali interpreter, told the trial they initially had a long-distance relationship as he lived in Aylesbury while studying and she lived in Oldham with her brother.
Jurors heard that in August 2022 Masum was found by police at a tram station, where he had stayed all night after an argument with Ms Akter.
He was taken to hospital where he told a doctor that 'when he fights with her he feels like he is going to kill her'.
They moved into a house in Oldham together in September 2022.
Jurors heard that in July 2023 Ms Akter went to stay with her brother because of Masum's controlling behaviour, leading him to threaten to harm himself with a knife before she returned.
On November 23 he became jealous over a 'completely innocuous' message she received from a male colleague and was accused of assault by grabbing her face, slapping her and pulling her hair. He was cleared of that charge.
The court heard he told her: 'I am going to murder you, and the police will be taking me.'
The following day he went into their bedroom carrying a knife and held it to her throat, jurors were told.
Ms Akter's sister-in-law called the police and Masum was arrested, with Ms Akter deciding to leave him and being moved to the Bradford refuge by Oldham social services in January 2024.
Masum denied the November incident and claimed Ms Akter had fabricated a domestic violence case against him as a way to stay in the UK, while he wanted to return to Bangladesh.
The court heard that while Ms Akter was at the refuge, Masum sent her a photo of the front of the building with a message saying: 'I know that you are living in this place. I knew from the first day you moved here.
'If I had any wish to kill you, I could have from the first day. You do not know what you have lost but one day you will understand. Nobody will love you like I do.'
The court heard Ms Akter's social worker arranged for her to be rehoused and she was due to move on April 8, but in the meantime she heard from Masum's brother that he was in Spain, and 'felt safe to leave the refuge' on the day she was killed.
Masum had pleaded guilty to manslaughter but denied murder. On Friday he was found guilty of the more serious charge, as well as one charge of assault, one count of making threats to kill and one charge of stalking. He pleaded guilty to possession of a knife in public.
Masum did not visibly react as the verdicts were read out. He was told by the judge Mr Justice Cotter, that he will be sentenced on July 22, when the minimum term for his life sentence will be determined.
Senior Investigating Officer, Detective Chief Inspector Stacey Atkinson of the Homicide and Major Enquiry Team said: 'Kulsuma suffered a brutal attack in broad daylight whilst her baby son was in his pram.
'Masum carried out the murder then calmly walked away as if nothing had happened. He left the scene and made his way out of the city to try and escape justice.
'A nationwide manhunt for Masum was launched, and he was subsequently arrested and charged with Kulsuma's murder.
'Kulsuma's family have been left absolutely devastated by her death, I hope today's conviction will bring them a sense of justice in knowing that the man responsible for her death has been found guilty.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Soldier who raped woman he met on dating app has sentence increased
An army officer who raped a woman he met on a dating app has had his prison sentence increased following a Crown appeal. Calum MacGregor, 30, sexually assaulted and raped his victim in her home in December 2021. He was originally jailed for four-and-a-half years after being found guilty at the High Court in Edinburgh earlier this year. However, the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) appealed against the sentence on the basis it was 'unduly lenient' given the serious nature of the offence. COPFS asked the Appeal Court to consider imposing a longer custodial term. On Friday, it was announced that the appeal has been upheld by a panel of three judges at the Appeal Court and that MacGregor's original sentence has been quashed. The soldier will now serve six years and six months in custody. Laura Buchan, deputy crown agent, said: 'Prosecutors have a responsibility to consider appeals based upon undue leniency in sentencing. Such appeals are rare. 'Today's decision to increase Calum MacGregor's sentence for rape provides public reassurance that the impact of sexual offences on victims will be acknowledged by those in the criminal justice system.' COPFS explained that for an appeal to be upheld a sentence must be unduly lenient, meaning it falls outside the range of sentences a judge could 'reasonably' have considered appropriate, having taken all relevant factors into account. It added that while sentencing is 'rightfully' the domain of judges, the Crown is allowed to appeal in limited circumstances to ensure the 'balance of justice' is served. In their ruling, published on Friday, the Appeal Court judges said they were 'not convinced that the sentencing judge applied her mind to all relevant factors'. The ruling said: 'In all the circumstances, even allowing for mitigating circumstances, a sentence of imprisonment for four years and six months was unduly lenient. The judges added that they would 'impose a sentence of imprisonment for six years and six months. As before, sentence is backdated to January 30 2025'.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Police target junction for begging after people spoken to 'dozens of times'
Police have spoken to homeless people "dozens of times" over the last eight months as part of efforts to stop begging at a specific junction. Greater Manchester Police (GMP) said that the Bolton neighbourhood team has been taking a direct and targeted approach to vulnerable people. They said they regularly patrol areas where they are known to visit or pass through, and provide them with checks and signpost those in need. Police have focused efforts on the area where the A666 meets Topp Way, as many people have reported begging in the area. This includes on the streets and at traffic lights. Officers can signpost homeless people to support services offered by the local authority, charities and partners. However, they can also issue out punishments when needed. The first is usually a community protection warning, which tells people to change their behaviour if it is causing problems in the area. Have a story? Get in touch at If they still do not change their behaviour, a community protection notice can then be given - which can lead to a criminal behaviour order. Both provide specifications for the recipient to follow. Prosecution is an option for the last resort, if none of the notices or orders have been obeyed. READ MORE: Man and woman charged after attack on teenager in Heaton READ MORE: Police find body in search for 28-year-old missing Leigh man READ MORE: Jack Naylor found guilty of murdering Thomas Gomm in Boothstown attack Sergeant Zach Keneally, from GMP's Bolton Neighbourhood Team, said: 'We work incredibly closely with our local partners to ensure that those who need help in our communities get the assistance they need. 'While we will always first seek to engage and support, we will never hesitate to take the appropriate action when criminal offences are committed and it the right course of action. 'Ultimately, we are there to serve Bolton in multiple ways, and engagement and support for those who may be vulnerable or at risk of falling into crime is a key part of ongoing prevention work.'
Forbes
2 hours ago
- Forbes
Pornhub And Other Sites Will Use Tech For Age-Verification Checks Coming Soon
When the Online Safety Act comes into force in the U.K. on July 25, adult websites will have to introduce age verification and age estimation checks to prevent under-18s from watching pornography. These checks will use different kinds of technology to work. Tougher age-verifications measures are coming to adult websites in the U.K. The British regulator, Ofcom, recently published research which says that 8%, that's one in 12, of eight to 14-year-olds in the U.K. visited a pornography site in one month with 19% of boys aged 13 and 14 (almost one in five) visiting the sites. Around 11% of girls the same age visited pornography sites in one month. So, the new mechanisms to check that you're as old as you say you are will include credit card checks, facial age estimation or open banking technology. If all that sounds rather, well, compromising, 'as part of the new rules, platforms must also ensure age verification measures don't exclude adults from accessing legal content or compromise their privacy,' reports Sky News. Recently, Pornhub withdrew from France rather than apply strict laws there, but it, and 12 other adult sites have confirmed to Ofcom that they will introduce the checks in time for the deadline in July. 'Ofcom has already listed seven methods that porn providers could use. Ultimately, which one they opt for is their decision, not Ofcom's, but their chosen method must be 'highly effective' at correctly determining if a user is under 18. Ofcom's seven suggested strategies are photo-ID matching, facial age estimation, mobile-network operator (MNO) age checks, credit card checks, email-based age estimation, digital identity services and open banking,' the Daily Mail has reported. Open banking accesses the data a bank has on record for a customer regarding their age, and photo-ID matching involves uploading a verified photo-ID document, such as a passport or driving licence. Since you need to be at least 18 years old to have a credit card in the U.K., a credit-card check is also considered highly effective. 'Facial age estimate works by analysing the features of a user's face from a photo to work out their age, while MNO age checks involve mobile-network operators applying age-restriction filters themselves,' the Daily Mail adds. The conundrum is how much users will trust an adult site with images of their face or passport, or whether they will want their bank confirm they are over 18.
