A Nigerian man living in Manchester, in a rage of jealousy, stabbed his sleeping wife repeatedly in the chest after he found out about her affair with another.
38-year-old Oluwabusayo Abegunde saw photos and messages on his wife’s Blackberry that suggested that she had been seeing another man. They were allegedly drinking and clubbing in the photos.
An enraged Abegunde carried out the savage attack with a kitchen knife on February 16th 2013 as his wife, Esther, lay sleeping in the spare room. She had earlier moved out of their bedroom, saying their marriage was over.
Oluwabusayo Abegunde, 38, of Hollybank, Droylesden
Manchester News reports:
Businessman Abegunde repeatedly stabbed her with a large kitchen knife while their two sons, aged eight and four, were downstairs in the family home on Hollybank, Droylsden.
The wounds punctured his wife’s left lung, partially severed a tendon in her right wrist and left her with other wounds to her chest and arm.
As she began to bleed to death Abegunde only agreed to call an ambulance after making her promise she would tell police and doctors she had inflicted the wounds on herself.
He also offered to kill himself – but only made a small cut in his own chest with the knife before emergency services arrived.
His wife was rushed to hospital where she survived – and a few days later told police the truth following the attack on February 16 last year.
Abegunde, said to have been a respected member of Manchester’s Nigerian community, was found not guilty of attempted murder at an earlier trial.
But the jury found him guilty of grevious bodily harm – and he has now been jailed for 12 years at Manchester Crown Square.
The court heard Abegunde, who makes a living running businesses in Nigeria, had been left ‘humiliated’ by his wife of ten years’ infidelity and sought revenge when she told him the marriage was over.
Sentencing, judge Honourable Mr Justice Kenneth Parker told Abegunde: “An attack on this nature upon a young woman and mother would cause psychological harm in the short and possible longer term.
“She probably thought at one point that the children were going to be left as orphans causing further anguish.
“You paid no heed to the fact your children could have been confronted with the truly horrific sight of a greviously injured mother.
“The risk was obvious that she could die but you carried on and are fortunate indeed that she did not die and you are not facing a charge of murder.”
