Jury is told mother was killed by husband
A MOTHER-OF-FOUR was murdered by her husband and his friend in a suspected knife and hammer attack at a house in Yorkshire, a jury was told.
A Leeds Crown Court jury heard 26-year-old Sinead Wooding’s burnt body was discovered in woodland in the Adel area of north Leeds on Sunday May 14.
Prosecutors claim her husband Akshar Ali, 27, and his friend Yasmin Ahmed, 27, murdered her at Ahmed’s home in Reginald Mount Potternewton before the body was stored in the cellar for two days.
The court heard Miss Wooding and Ali, who lived at Scott Hall Road, Potternewton, had argued after drinking during a party at the house on Thursday, May 11.
Prosecutor Nicholas Campbell QC said Miss Wooding had started to convert to the Islamic faith before she met Akshar Ali. The couple signed a marriage contract after an Islamic Nikah ceremony in February 2015.
Mr Campbell said it was a “volatile” and sometimes violent relationship. He said Miss Wooding had been stabbed several times and struck repeatedly about the head. A Home Office pathologist concluded several skull fractures were caused by at least one claw hammer.
Mr Campbell said a blood stain on the cellar floor along with numerous blood spots on walls matched Miss Wooding’s DNA.
Akshar Ali, of Kings Road, Hyde Park, and Yasmin Ahmed both deny murder. Ali’s 45-yearold mother, Aktahr Bi, of Kings Road, Hyde Park, denies assisting an offender by making arrangements to dispose of Miss Wooding’s body. Ali’s 21-year-old brother, Asim Ali, of Kings Road, Hyde Park, denies assisting an offender by procuring a vehicle and assisting in the disposal and burning of her body. Yasmin Ahmed’s friend, Vicky Briggs, 25, of Throstle Road, Middleton, denies assisting an offender by helping clean up and burn material after the murder.
The trial continues.