Bullying bigamist threatened to kill wife and children

Addressing 42-year-old Hamza Khan at Bradford Crown Court, Mr Recorder Sam Green KC said he was “a terrible bully” who had punched, slapped, and bit his wife “like a wild animal” leaving her “terrified”.

Prosecutor Austin Newman said the couple married in Pakistan in 2006 and went on to have children but that Khan, from the Frizinghall area of Bradford, had been both physically and emotionally abusive towards her throughout the marriage.

Khan had also been unfaithful. When his wife confronted him about this he became “angry, abusive, and violent” towards her.

And when she tried to leave, he would persuade her to return for the sake of their children.

In February 2023 Hamza left “suddenly” for Pakistan and was there for some months. During that time, his wife heard that he had entered a second marriage with another woman.

In June, he asked his wife in the UK to pay for his return trip back to Bradford but, not having enough money, she told his parents who paid for the flight.

On June 8 he went to see his wife, told her that he had changed and that “everything was going to be all right between them”. She was persuaded to let him into the family home.

He then demanded money from her and, when he refused, began searching the house for cash and for her gold jewellery.

Khan has been locked up (Image: West Yorkshire Police)

He threatened to burn the house down if she did not give him what he wanted.

He then rang the other woman and spoke to her as his wife listened. She asked him to go outside and referred to the other woman as “a prostitute” in doing so.

Khan reacted by grabbing her by the hair, pulling her around the room, and punching and slapping her in the face.

When she tried to get out of the door, he grabbed her by the throat and squeezed before pushing her into a table and biting her hand.

She managed to escape and locked herself in the bathroom. The incident ended when Khan’s brother arrived and told him to leave. The police were also called.

In an interview, Khan said he was the victim even though he was uninjured and denied he had assaulted his wife, claiming he had reacted in self-defence.

His victim was left with multiple marks and bruises, a split lip, and a bite mark.

Bradford Crown Court

Khan was released on bail and told not to contact his wife but on January 19 this year he phoned her three times. When she did not respond he drove to the house and demanded that she drop the charges against him. Some of their children were present at the time.

After following her to a mosque and back home he pulled up alongside her car, banged his head on her windscreen, and threatened to smash up the house and to kill her and the family, leaving her “terrified”.

He then deliberately drove his car at hers whilst she was locked inside “as to ram it” before braking at the last minute. He then shouted more threats before driving off.

Arrested and interviewed the following day, Khan remained silent.

Mitigating, Olivia Fraser said Khan, who had no previous convictions, accepted he had injured the victim, expressed sorrow for his actions, and accepted that it was wrong.

Jailing Khan, who appeared via video link from HMP Leeds where he has been on remand since January, Recorder Green said: “You have no previous convictions or cautions. You are, however, a terrible bully.

“Men who beat women up, particularly with sufficient ferocity to cause physical harm, can expect to go to prison.

“Men who bully women who report such matters to the police including by threatening to kill them and the children, can expect to go to prison.”

He said he had slapped and punched her, squeezed her throat, “bit her hand like a wild animal”, and lied to the police about what had happened.

His later threats, including to kill her and the family, had the effect to “cause her to be terrified”. He described it as “significant and severe domestic abuse”.

He jailed Khan for 18 months for committing assault occasioning actual bodily harm plus 18 months, to be served consecutively, for intimidation, totalling 36 months less the 232 days he has spent on remand.

He also imposed an indefinite restraining order banning Khan from having any contact with the victim.