Cricketer spared jail for beating wife after ‘lying’ about county deal
AN ABUSIVE husband was freed by a judge after falsely claiming that a prison sentence would ruin his prospects as a county cricketer.
Mustafa Bashir, 34, was spared jail by judge Richard Mansell QC after lawyers claimed he had been offered a contract by Leicestershire, as long as he avoided jail.
But hours after he walked free from court, the county said it was “bemused”, and had never heard of Bashir.
A spokesman for the Crown Prosecution Service told The Daily Telegraph it was aware of the developments and was “considering our options”.
Judge Mansell also faced criticism for suggesting Bashir’s wife – who was forced to drink bleach and was hit with a cricket bat – was not “vulnerable” because she had friends and a university degree.
Bashir berated his wife, Fakhara Karim, for wearing Western clothing, would call her a “slag” when she went out with her female friends and left her a broken woman after he repeatedly beat her. Manchester Crown Court heard that at one point he struck Ms Karim over her back with his cricket bat, saying: “If I hit you with this bat with my full power then you would be dead.”
After another row, Bashir, who plays in a local cricket league in Oldham, Greater Manchester, forced his wife to take tablets and drink bleach and told her to kill herself.
Bashir admitted assault occasioning actual bodily harm but his lawyer said if he was spared prison he could accept a place at Leicestershire County Cricket Club.
Passing an 18-month jail term suspended for two years, Judge Mansell ordered Bashir to attend a behavioural workshop, pay £1,000 costs and banned him from making contact with Ms Karim.
He told Bashir: “I am not convinced she was a vulnerable person. Sometimes women who move here from their country become trapped in a relationship where they lose their support network of family and friends and cannot speak the language.
“This is not the case here. She is plainly an intelligent woman with a network of friends and did go on to graduate university with a 2:1 and a masters – although this has had an ongoing affect on her.”
However, the judge added: “This court will not tolerate violence in a relationship of this nature. It is a very fine line between imprisonment and a suspended sentence.”
Jess Phillips, the Labour MP, said she would raise the case with the Attorney-General and Justice Secretary. “The words of the judge, if they have been reported accurately, are frankly astonishing,” she told The Guardian.
“The idea that a woman’s educational status or her friendships are being used to judge her vulnerability completely fails to understand the nature of domestic abuse.”
Julian Young, a consultant solicitor with London firm Tuckers, said that Bashir may well be recalled for a fresh sentencing hearing.
“If you give your lawyer instructions or hand your lawyer a document the lawyer will assume it’s true; if a lawyer is told something by a client you usually accept it in good faith.
“The judge can reopen sentencing if the hearing is within a short period after the sentencing hearing. This is treated as a serious matter; judges take being misled very seriously.”
A spokesman for Leicestershire County Cricket Club said: “The club have never spoken to Mustafa Bashir or an agent, nor offered a contract to the player.”