Husband guilty of wife's murder

A Black Country father-of-three has today been found guilty of murdering his wife with a metal dumbbell bar.

Imran Iqbal, aged 27, battered Yasmin Akhtar, 24, over the head repeatedly leaving her in a pool of blood while their young children slept upstairs at their home in Purlin Wharf in Netherton, Dudley.

He had pleaded guilty to manslaughter on the grounds he was provoked by his wife but he had denied murder. However a jury at Wolverhampton Crown Court today returned a unanimous guilty verdict.

During the eight-day trial the jury heard that Iqbal, who was born in Pakistan, had discovered that his wife of seven years was having an affair.

The couple had separated but Iqbal still visited his children as he did on November 29 last year — the night Mrs Akhtar died.

Iqbal had told the court that his wife had admitted seeing another man and began "spitting and swearing" at him that night.

He claimed the dumbbell bar was on the floor next to the sofa within his reach and he grabbed it and attacked his wife. But Mr Peter Grieves-Smith prosecuting said the bar was in the kitchen and Iqbal had to fetch it before killing her.

Iqbal, a worker at the Twice The Spice balti restaurant in Dudley High Street had ordered Mrs Akhtar not to see two college friends and he felt she was spending too many hours away from her children.

Mrs Akhtar was due to go to London the day after she was murdered with her alleged lover. Iqbal told the court he had confronted her over the affair and she had admitted seeing someone.

He then attacked her with the bar and later called police saying there had "been a murder".

Tests showed Mrs Akhtar had been struck on the back of the head six times and up to a further 11 times on the face. Iqbal is yet to be sentenced but has been told he faces a life sentence.