Man who attacked wife was 'medieval' - judge

Fayaz Khan was told by a judge that his attitude towards his wife had been "medieval"

An abusive and controlling husband with a "medieval" attitude towards his wife has been jailed for attacking her with a knife.

Fayaz Khan, of Briercliffe Road in Burnley, claimed to be bringing a gift of fruit to his estranged wife, but tried to stab her repeatedly.

Family members prevented the 69-year-old from continuing his attack by forcing him out of the door and using their weight to stop him getting back in.

Khan, who was convicted at trial of attempted Section 18 wounding, was sentenced at Preston Crown Court to 15 years in prison.

Denials

The court heard Khan, who had children from a previous marriage, married his current wife in Pakistan when he was in his 30s and she was 17.

The pair had not met before their wedding.

The relationship was controlling and abusive, with "medieval" Khan treating his wife "like a slave", Judge Heather Lloyd said during his sentencing hearing.

She said his wife was not fluent in English despite living here for 25 years, was barely allowed out of the house, and did not even know the geography of the streets immediately around her own home, all of which indicated how much Khan controlled her life.

The court heard that in August last year, a neighbour called the police after hearing Khan shouting aggressively at his wife.

Officers went to the house and Khan's wife made a complaint.

But, the judge said, "she then gave a retraction statement, not saying it was not true but that she did not want to go on".

Judge Lloyd said it had been a police officer who had advised Khan's wife to make the retraction, which the judge described as "shameful".

In December, Khan turned up at the family home and, once inside, launched at his wife with a knife.

The court heard it was only the thickness of the clothes she was wearing and the intervention of his son that prevented her being seriously injured.

Judge Lloyd reminded Khan that his heavily pregnant daughter-in-law also had to help prevent him from getting back into the house, and had to be taken to hospital to check the unborn baby had not been harmed.

Khan, who frequently muttered in protest during the hearing, had throughout his trial persistently denied any wrongdoing, and claimed to have been "poisoned, abused and bullied by his family", Judge Lloyd said.

'No insight'

Khan’s defence barrister Joe Allman said there was little mitigation and that the pre-sentence report by the probation service made for "depressing reading".

He said while Khan had some previous convictions for violence and possession of drugs, the most recent was in 1987.

Mr Allman outlined Khan’s various health problems, which included arthritis, diabetes, kidney trouble and the removal of his gall bladder.

The judge said she recognised Khan’s ill health but said it had not been sufficient to stop him attacking his wife.

She told him his family had come to live in fear of him, and that he showed no remorse for his crimes.

"You have absolutely no insight into your behaviour - criminal or otherwise - towards your wife or your family," she said.

She said he had to be sentenced as a dangerous offender, remarking that "away from the family you have boasted about the fights and gangs you have been involved with over the past five decades".

Khan was sentenced to 15 years for attempted Section 18 wounding, with 10 to be served in custody.

Sentences of two and a half years for controlling and coercive behaviour, 14 months for possession of an offensive weapon in private, 12 months for actual bodily harm, and six months for intimidation of a witness or juror are to be served concurrently to the 10 years’ custody.

An indefinite restraining order remains in place.

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