A jealous muslim, who discovered his "Westernised" bride was enjoying an affair and blowing the couple's money, was caged for life today for stabbing her to death with a kitchen knife.
Chauffeur Rojel Haque, 40, pleaded guilty to murdering 27 year-old mother-of-two Anu Kapoor at their flat in Shrewsbury Road, Forest Gate and will serve a minimum of sixteen years.
Blackfriars Crown Court heard Indian-born Anu, a law centre receptionist, was having a fling with another worker at the kebab shop she was employed at part-time and Haque saw love bites all over her neck when she returned home.
She had also run up a £500 mobile phone bill the previous month and used the couple's money to pay for her young lover Hafiz Babar's driving lessons.
"Anu led a more Westernised lifestyle. She had her own life, her own friends," said Haque's QC Miss Jane Bickerstaff. "She was not cowed by her husband.
"The defendant simply lost control, an argument began and the knife is one from their kitchen.
"He cannot honestly say what was the intention in his mind, this happened in moments.
"The red mist came down. he instantly panicked and regretted it."
Prosecutor Mr. Peter Finnigan QC told the court Anu, who came to the UK eight years ago, suffered multiple incise wounds to her chest on August 4 last year at the couple's flat above a newsagent's shop.
"He admits stabbing Anu during a confrontation about her lover and says he left the flat in shock and panic, but what he did was set about laying a false trail to suggest she had been killed by an intruder.
"He left the front door open, opened the kitchen window and ransacked their bedroom before going to work for three-and-a-half hours while phoning people to say he was concerned about Anu."
When Haque returned home he raised the alarm and called 999, explaining: "I just came home and saw my wife lying on the bed. There's blood everywhere."
However, the newsagent downstairs confirmed the obviously-distressed defendant had bought strong bin bags and cleaning gloves hours before.
Forensic tests also revealed Anu's airborne blood spattered on his trousers.
A pathologist concluded Anu would have remained alive for a significant time, despite her injuries, but Haque continues to insist he did not call an ambulance because she was obviously deceased.
He failed to offer any defence case statement until two days before she scheduled trial and then fabricated an account of Anu pulling the knife on him and being wounded as the couple fell during a struggle.
This was abandoned on the day of the trial and Haque finally admitted his guilt.
Police quickly discovered he had a violent past and physically abused his ex-wife Shananaz, who had to flee to a refuge with their children.
"He sought to control his ex-wife and regularly beat her," explained Mr. Finnigan. "He threatened to kill her and after they reconciled the beatings then became worse."
Haque even pulled a knife on his ex-wife during a violent row, which was witnessed by their eldest daughter, who phoned the police.
The defendant told his ex-wife the day before the murder: "You women are all the same. You are trying to mess up my life."
He tried to pursuade Anu to celebrate their eight-year wedding anniversary in Blackpool, but she confided to a friend that she was afraid to go because she feared her husband would kill her there.
She also told a work colleague Haque "tortured" her with endless all-night questioning about her feelings towards him and he had beaten her.
The post-mortem revealed Haque had plunged the knife over eight inches into Anu's chest and she suffered serious injuries to her right hand and knee as she desperately tried to defend herself.
The wounds perforated both of her lungs and her heart, causing fatal internal bleeding.
Judge Aidan Marron QC told Haque: "You launched a significant violent attack on her and I find it difficult to accept your claim that she taunted and humiliated you over her affair.
"You have repeatedly demonstrated violence in a domestic context, significantly sometimes with the use of a knife.
"You were becoming increasingly possessive and your wife told a friend she feared she may be killed by you."
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