Saima Khan murder: Killer sister having affair with husband

A woman who murdered her sister while having an affair with her husband has been jailed for a minimum of 22 years.

Sabah Khan stabbed Saima Khan, 34, who was at home with her four children, on 23 May last year.

The defendant, whose internet history included "hiring a hitman for £200", left Mrs Khan with 68 different injuries, the Old Bailey heard.

Sabah Khan, 27, of Overstone Road in Luton, was jailed having earlier admitted murder.

Sentencing, Judge Christopher Moss said she had been in a sexual relationship with her sister's husband Hefeez Rehman for four years and called the killing "astonishingly brutal".

Mr Rehman, who was not in court, said in a statement he "never imagined anything like this would happen".

He added: "There is not a day goes by when I don't regret my affair with Sabah."

Care worker Saima Khan was found with 68 different injuries in Overstone Road on 23 May last year

Prosecutor Jane Bickerstaff QC said: "From February 2016, all was not well with Hefeez Rehman and his affection appears to have been transferred back to his wife."

Around that time, Sabah Khan's internet search history included "venomous snakes for sale", "how to poison someone" and "16 steps to kill someone and not get caught".

She had also been in touch with a "black magic priest" in Pakistan who she had paid £5,000 to kill her sister "by remote control".

Ms Bickerstaff said that on the night of the killing, while other family members were at a funeral, Saima Khan was lured home from work by her sister messaging her to say her baby was crying.

Sabah Khan had turned off the lights in the hallway and carried out a "vicious and sustained" eight-minute attack.

During the ordeal, the victim's eldest daughter called downstairs "auntie are you killing a mouse?".

The prosecution also told the court it was likely some injuries were carried out after death.

Police found the knife used in the attack in Sabah Khan's bedroom

Police said that Sabah Khan had tried to "throw us off the scent from the start" by claiming it was a burglary.

Det Ch Insp Adam Gallop, from the Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire major crime unit, called Sabah Khan "a cold, calculated evil killer".

"She killed her sister because she was bitter and jealous of her sister's life," he said. "She wanted her life, her husband and her children. Rather than that she's spending a long time in prison."

Police said Sabah Khan staged a burglary by breaking the window on the front door of the three-bedroom house in Luton

Defending, Jo Sidhu QC said Sabah Khan had written a letter in which she expressed "failure, guilt, responsibility and shame" for what she had done. He added that she had also had an abortion after getting pregnant with Mr Rehman's child.

Mr Rehman's statement added: "I have four beautiful children but I have lost my world and I cry every day. Saima was there for all four children. She did everything.