Gambler jailed for life for wife murder

A gambling addict known to bookies’ as the ‘angry Indian’ was jailed for at least 19 years today for hacking his wife to death after she objected to him gambling  away their food money.

Jalal Uddin, 47, slashed and chopped at 31-year-old Asma Begum’s head, face, neck and back at least 58 times at their flat in City Island Way, Canning Town.

Such was the brutality of the onslaught that his 4ft 11in victim was unable to be bathed, anointed and wrapped as is the custom in Muslim burials.

The Indian restaurant chef had a ‘gambling habit’ and his wife told police in October 2016 ‘they regularly argued about money, and when they did, he often beat her’.

The following month, Mrs Begum confided in a housing officer that Uddin ‘hit her when she refused to give him money’, the Old Bailey heard.

Uddin, who is Bangladeshi, denied but was convicted of murder after the jury deliberated for just over three hours.

He had admitted the lesser charge of manslaughter.

The Recorder of London, Judge Nicholas Hilliard, QC, said: ‘I am sure that you had a gambling problem and would on occasion waste scarce family resources in this way and I am satisfied that your gambling was a significant source of tension within the marriage by the start of 2019.

‘Things were sufficiently serious for Asma Begum to try and get through to your brother in Bangladesh.

‘She spoke to him variously for three minutes, 19 minutes, nine minutes, and 3 minutes on 10 January.

‘The last of these calls being at 3:43pm. I am sure her contact with your brother reflects her concern about what was going on and about your behaviour.

‘At about 8:30 that evening she messaged a friend saying she had an argument with you and a fight happened over many things.

‘She said that she felt like dying – she did not do bad things to others so why was this happening to her.

‘I am sure that you would have been the physical aggressor and not her. She was only four foot 11 and weighed less than nine stone. So, much smaller and less powerful than you.

‘The nature of injuries to her face were so serve that the family of Asma Begum were advised by their Imam they should not bathe, anoint and wrap her before burial so disfigured was she.’

An employee once watched the killer squander ‘well over £1,000’ in a single session while financial inquiries revealed he had defaulted on a £16,000 loan taken out in September 2016.

The day before the killing, Mrs Begum sent Uddin to take £200 out of her account to foot the family’s food and expenses.

After withdrawing the cash Uddin ‘went straight next door to the betting shop’, the court heard.

Although William Hill’s records did not show whether Uddin won or lost money during his first half an hour inside, they did show that at one point he used his own card to load £40 worth of credit onto a roulette machine which he’d lost within 10 minutes.

Prosecutor Danny Robinson QC said Uddin left his wife with little to pay the bills and feed and clothe the family.

‘She said that she often ended up giving him money for his gambling to stop him hitting her,’ Mr Robinson added.

‘As you will hear, arguments between them caused by his gambling habit were not unusual.

‘Mr Uddin was known to the employees of William Hill bookmakers in east London as the ‘Angry Indian’ because he would often hit the gaming machines when he was losing.’

‘He returned home that day with about £20 worth of shopping and no money, and perhaps unsurprisingly an argument between Mr Uddin and his wife ensued,’ Mr Robinson said.

‘There were so many cuts to her face that an experienced pathologist who examined her body was unable to count them all.

‘Her hands were badly cut and her left hand was almost amputated at the wrist.

‘She was cut, stabbed, slashed or chopped at with the knife at least 58 times.

‘The pathologist described the level of force used to inflict the injuries as ‘extreme’.

‘Such was the ferocity of the attack that a piece of the knife blade broke off in her face.’

Giving evidence Uddin claimed he disarmed his wife after she came at him.

He said he was wounded in the hand and the leg but grabbed the blade from his wife as they struggled on the floor.

‘At that point I snatched the knife. When I saw the blood, I lost it. I thought she was going to kill me.

‘I tried to save myself and struck her back with the knife.

‘My head was not working at that time. I was not in this world at that time.’

Uddin, of City Island Way, Canning Town, denied but was convicted of murder.

He was sentenced to life imprisonment and will serve a minimum of 19 years before being considered for parole.
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