A husband and wife have been jailed for more than 20 years after a brutal attempt to murder the man’s stepmother at her home in Kings Norton, Birmingham.
Wasif Hussain, 21, and Nabela Tabassum, 19, wore giraffe animal masks when they attacked the woman with a knife and hammer on the evening of 29 January last year. The attack, which was captured on a camera installed in the home, left the victim with a stab wound to her arms and defensive knife injuries. She managed to escape upstairs, locking herself in a room to call the police for help.
The couple, who had denied attempted murder, were found guilty following a trial at Birmingham Crown Court which concluded in March. At sentencing today, Hussain was jailed for 15 years, and Tabassum was told she must serve nine years behind bars.
The court heard how the frenzied attack began when Hussain struck the woman with a hammer, strangled, punched, and stabbed her while Tabassum restrained her. The couple then fled Birmingham but were traced to Bolton and arrested in the early hours of the following morning.
Detective Inspector Laura Allen, from Public Protection, said: “The sentences handed down to Hussain and Tabassum send a clear message that those who carry out such calculated and brutal attacks will be brought before the courts. This was a frenzied assault on a defenceless woman using a knife and hammer, and she was very lucky to have survived.
“I would like to thank Sergeant Gareth Glass and his team for their tireless work in gathering vital evidence, which ultimately led to these convictions. Our thoughts remain with the victim as she continues to recover from the trauma of her experience.”
The court was told that the couple acted out of anger after being asked to leave the family home, having been accused of treating it like a hotel and not doing their share of chores.
The sentences handed down today reflect the seriousness of this crime and the danger posed by the defendants.