Man guilty of murdering wife in front of their baby

Kulsuma Akter was stabbed as she pushed a pram in street

- KATIE DICKINSON

A man described as “violent, jealous and controlling” has been convicted of murder after he fatally stabbed his wife in broad daylight, having tracked her to a women’s refuge.

Habibur Masum launched a "ferocious" knife attack on Kulsuma Akter as she pushed their seven-month-old son in a pram. The court heard he left her "bleeding to death in the gutter" before calmly walking away from the scene, abandoning their baby.

A court heard Masum, 26, followed Akter, 27, to a refuge in Bradford where she had been staying to escape him after he held a knife to her throat following an assault at their home in Greater Manchester.

After finding her through her phone location, Masum was seen on CCTV in the days leading up to the fatal attack "loitering, watching and waiting" in streets around the hostel, jurors heard.

He sent her messages threatening to kill her family members if she did not return to him, before trying to lure her out by sending her fake messages from a local GP practice pretending their son had an appointment and warning of "increasingly dire consequences" if she did not attend.

Bradford Crown Court heard Akter eventually felt safe enough to leave the refuge on 6 April last year after Masum updated his Facebook page, falsely claiming to be in Spain.

As she was walking in the city centre with a friend, pushing her baby in a pram, Masum confronted her, the trial heard.

He was seen on CCTV trying to steer Akter and the pram away before pulling a knife from his jacket and launching the "brutal attack" when he realised she was not coming with him, prosecutor Stephen Wood KC told jurors.