The sister of a Bradford woman who died after being shot in the head today spoke publicly for the first time of her belief that the trauma of the killing also led to the premature death of her brother.

Sobiya Afzal, 28, said her older brother Tahir, 31, a multiple sclerosis sufferer, never recovered from the shock of hearing that their younger sister, Nighat Sultana Afzal, had been killed.

The 26-year-old died after an automatic pistol that Jahanzad Ismail Khan was pointing at her head went off.

Last year Khan, then 28, of no fixed abode, was jailed for seven years for Nighat's manslaughter after the shooting at a friend's home in Avenham Way, Bradford, in 1996.

Sobiya, of Walden Drive, Heaton, Bradford, said her brother Tahir had been successfully battling the disease, which attacks the central nervous system, before the tragedy.

She said: "Up until Nighat's death he was still really, really strong. He was fine. He could still walk, still drive a car, do normal things.

"The life expectancy of a sufferer can be up to 50 or 60 years - though the doctors did say they normally end up in a wheelchair within two to three years. But my brother could get about on his own and was very independent.

"The shock of hearing the circumstances of how Nighat died was very traumatic for him. Tahir just couldn't come to terms with Nighat's death. It was more the way she died that affected him and our family."

Sobiya said that over three years Tahir's initially slow decline accelerated. Last October he was admitted to Leeds General Infirmary after he fell seriously ill.

He was in hospital for five days. After making an apparent recovery, Tahir eventually passed away - despite attempts to resuscitate him.

Sobiya said: "Before he was in hospital Tahir would say, 'Nighat's gone and why am I fighting this disease when all this is happening around me?' He wasn't the same when he was told that Nighat had passed away. It was just like he had given up on life.''

Sobiya, who has two remaining brothers and another sister, is now seeking an inquiry into the way police handled the investigation into her sister's death.

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