Husband jailed after attack on new wife over 'lazy' comment

Munawar Hussain, aged 40, attacked his wife of under three months because he overheard her say he was 'lazy', Wolverhampton Crown Court heard.

She has now moved to a secret location to escape her attacker, the court heard.

Hussain, of Earl Street, Walsall, pleaded guilty to a single charge of common assault and was given a four-month prison sentence. However he was allowed to walk free from the courtroom as he had already spent three months in custody, which is longer than half the sentence – the period he would have been likely to serve.

The couple met in 2008 and Hussain's wife moved from her home country of Pakistan to the UK in 2010.

They were wedded in an arranged marriage in 2012, when she moved to Walsall.

The offence was committed on February 15, 2013. Prosecuting, Mr Saki Ruck said: "The complainant was complaining to her father-in-law, who lived in the same house, that the defendant was lazing around the house. The defendant overheard that conversation and it made him angry.

"He slapped and punched her in the eye and strangled her with a scarf she was wearing. He was saying to her that she was going to die in the house.

"After the attack she managed to call the police. They attended the family home and they could see scratches to her arms and reddening to her neck, so she was taken to hospital." Mr Michael Anning, defending, said Hussain had been in custody between February 18 and May 18.

Sentencing him, Philip Parker QC said it was 'lucky' the couple had no children.

He added: "It is a deeply unpleasant attack on your new wife. She makes a minor criticism of you and you respond by punching and strangling her." Hussain was also ordered to pay a victim surcharge and £85 costs.