A MAN tried to kill his wife using a “murder kit” in a “brutal and ferocious attack”.
Muhammad Khan, 53, slashed his estranged wife’s neck with a Stanley knife, repeatedly stabbed her, and beat her with a hammer on January 18 this year.
Muhammad Khan, 53, used a Stanley knife to savage his estranged partner[/caption]
The horror, which also saw the victim strangled with an exercise band and knifed 15 times, unfolded inside her Rochdale home.
Khan had come to the property under the guise of collecting his belongings.
But instead he took with him weapons, bleach and white spirit, with the plan to murder his victim.
She was eventually rescued when her family arrived and her brother broke into the house.
He restrained Khan, who was “smirking”, as his wife lay fighting for her life.
The terrified family members tried to lock him in the garage but he escaped.
Witnesses reported seeing him dump his “murderous kit” before cops later detained him.
He callously asked officers what the sentence was for murder and how long he’d be in prison.
Prosecuting, Chloe Fordham, told Minshull Street Crown Court: “During the attack, she was pleading with the defendant not to kill her, and telling him to think of their children, saying if he killed her, they would not have their parents.
“The defendant didn’t seem to care. He pulled out a hammer and hit her hard on the head. He then tried to strangle her.”
In a victim impact statement, the woman said: “The calculated and brutal nature of the attempted murder by my husband has left significant physical injuries and deep lasting psychological trauma.
“This was not a crime of impulse, but deliberate, premeditated and planned.
“This was not an attack by a stranger, but by the person I should have been able to trust the most, somebody who was meant to protect me.”
Addressing Khan, she said: “The only request I ask is that you declare the words ‘I divorce you’ in front of my family, to release me from this marriage. I hope after all I have endured, you can grant me this freedom.”
The victim, who shares a son with her abuser, said the attack has also scarred their child.
Their eldest son had said in the statement: “The last time you hurt Mama you said you would never do it again. I don’t understand why you have now.
“If you killed her, we would be orphans. I never want to see you again.”
Defending, Ian McMeekin said: “He knows himself that the behaviour was inexplicable and inexcusable.”
Khan was sentenced to 27-and-a-half years behind bars for attempted murder.
The judge told him: “This was a murderous kit you had bought specifically – the knife to attack her and the bleach to clean up afterwards.”
Khan, of Bernard Street, Rochdale, was jailed for 27-and-a-half years.
He will spend an extra five years on licence and made the subject of a life-long restraining order for life.
If you or someone you know is affected by any of the issues raised in this story, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 or chat at thehotline.org.