BIRMINGHAM MAN JAILED FOR THE BRUTAL MURDER OF WIFE AFTER DIVORCE
An estranged husband who brutally murdered his wife after she asked for a divorce has been jailed for a minimum of 20 years.Shoukat Ali, 38, killed mother-of-five Shaista Khatoon, 33, while she desperately made a 999 call from her Alum Rock home.
The operator could hear terrified Mrs Khatoon’s piercing screams and police were confronted by the sight of her body lying in a pool of blood.
Her throat had been cut.
Ali was jailed for 20 years at Birmingham Crown Court yesterday for the “brutal and terrible killing” after changing his plea to guilty of murder.
Gordon Aspen, prosecuting, read out a victim impact statement from one of Mrs Khatoon’s children in which she spoke of her loneliness without her mother.
He said: “My mum was my life, my happiness, my everything.
“My mum was the only reason that I would succeed and go forward in life and I never ever can go forward and succeed in life.
“He hasn’t just killed my mum but has killed all our household.
“My mum always had her hand on my shoulder through thick and thin.
No one can replace my mum.” Jailing Ali for life, Judge James Burbage said: ‘The children have to live the rest of their life without the assistance and guidance of their mother.’ Mr Aspen said Ali and his wife had been married 15 years and she was a “hard working and devoted mother”.
But the marriage had deteriorated over recent years and Ali had received a divorce letter from his wife through the Islamic Court last November.
He later broke into the home on Farndon Road armed with a large knife and cut her throat.
Claire Nicholls, Senior Crown Prosecutor from West Midlands Crown Prosecution Service’s Public Protection Unit, said: “This is an extremely tragic case where a mother of five was brutally killed by her estranged husband because he was unable to accept that she wanted a divorce from him.
“Through Ali’s heartless actions, five children have lost their loving and devoted mother.
Our thoughts are today with them and Mrs Khatoon’s family and friends.” The victim dialled 999 to call for help but Ali stabbed her several times before cutting her throat.
Emergency services arrived at the address within minutes but were unable to save Shaista.
