A sleeping mum was battered to death by her hammer-wielding husband after he found a text message she sent to another man, a court heard.
Danish Irfan, 22, hit wife Ridda Zanab’s skull so hard with the weapon that fragments of bone were forced into her brain, killing her within minutes.
The jury heard that the sustained attack, which involved at least 10 blows as his wife lay asleep under a duvet, was sparked by the discovery of the text which read: “I luv yu, mwahhh, gud nyt.”
Ridda, 21, had only given birth to Irfan’s daughter two months before the killing.
After the death at their home in Bradford on November 3, Irfan changed his blood-stained clothing and took their baby in a taxi to where Ridda’s family lived nearby.
Jonathan Sharp, prosecuting, told Bradford crown court that Irfan told a series of lies to his wife’s family, including that the victim had “kicked off” and left their home.
The jury heard that Irfan said he needed to leave the baby with them because he had to go to work, but instead he travelled to Manchester Airport where he unsuccessfully tried to get himself deported back to Pakistan because his student visa had expired.
The court was told that Irfan, who has admitted manslaughter but denies murder, then made his way to London where he eventually obtained a false passport and used it to fly to Islamabad from Heathrow airport.
But he told a friend that he had killed his wife and police broke down the door of the home on November 4 and found Ridda’s body.
The police obtained an arrest warrant for Irfan and in February the defendant alerted the authorities to the fact that he was returning to Heathrow where he was detained and charged with murder.
Outlining the case to the jury, Mr Sharp said Irfan and his wife were from very different backgrounds.
He said Ridda was born in Bradford and had a Western outlook on life.
“She liked a night out and she had a rebellious streak to her,” said Mr Sharp.
The court heard she had a number of boyfriends before meeting Irfan when she was 19. He had only been in the country for six or seven months.
“By all accounts he did not share Ridda’s pleasure in going out,” said Mr Sharp.
“Ridda’s family did not approve of him, and their relationship was kept partly secret. When they got married, no family members were invited.”
The couple initially lived together in the Huddersfield area, where, in December 2012, Ridda was taken to hospital with red marks on her neck. Irfan admitted he had tried to throttle her and smother her with a pillow.
A month later, Ridda became pregnant and the pair moved back to Bradford.
“According to her family, Danish became more possessive and controlling and did not like Ridda seeing her friends and family,” said Mr Sharp.
“Danish objected to the idea of Ridda going to work or wearing Western clothes. He also became more jealous.”
Mr Sharp said that after the birth of their daughter in September last year, Irfan became more jealous and it was alleged he was tracking her on his iPhone.
The prosecutor told the jury that by late October, Ridda had come to the conclusion she was no longer going to be a loyal wife, and in the days leading up to her death she developed a relationship with another man.
She was spending a lot of time with a close friend called Rob, the jury was told.
The court heard that Ridda had told Irfan their relationship was over and would stay out until the early hours of the morning.
On the day she was killed, Ridda came home at 4.42am. She had sent the text message to Rob shortly after midnight.
Mr Sharp said Irfan read the text some time that morning.
