- Sarah Willis converted to Islam but rowed with boyfriend over tight clothes
- Boyfriend Bilal Saddique was strict Muslim and kept relationship private
- Willis claims the pair had argued about her wearing tight and short clothes
- On one occasion he picked her up from work and saw her with other man
- Mr Saddique accused Willis of cheating and pair argued at Blackburn home
- During row Willis picked up knife and Bilal received fatal knife wound
- Knife almost severed artery and he died hour later at Blackburn hospital
- Willis is on trial for murder and an alternative charge of manslaughter
Sarah Willis is accused of stabbing her Muslim boyfriend to death after a volatile relationship that saw the pair arguing about her Westernised clothes
A teenager is accused of stabbing her Muslim boyfriend to death after the pair argued about her wearing Westernised tight clothing and short dresses and skirts.
Sarah Willis, who works at a law firm, is accused of stabbing Bilal Saddique in the leg at the home they shared in Blackburn in Lancashire.
The knife almost entirely severed an artery in the 29-year-old's thigh and he died an hour later.
Willis, 19, claimed Mr Saddique was a controlling man and had taunted her with claims that he had slept with someone else during their stormy three-year relationship.
Mr Saddique, a strict Muslim, had kept their relationship and had referred to his girlfriend as a 'bitch' and a 'slag', Preston Crown Court.
On the night of his death during a vicious argument between the pair Willis said Mr Saddique pulled her by her hair and taunted her by saying he had been having sex with someone else.
When she started collecting her possessions, including knives, to leave their shared home he goaded her and dared her to stab him, saying 'come on hit me, come on f****** stab me, if you hate me'.
As a vicious row ensued Willis said the BT engineer grabbed her hand, which was holding a knife, and stabbed himself in the thigh.
He died at Royal Blackburn Hospital an hour later from his injuries.
Willis, who converted to Islam when she was at school, regularly talked about her boyfriend according to colleagues. She sometimes told them he had bought her expensive handbags and makeup but at other times would complain about him being too controlling.
Asma Day, a colleague, described Willis as having a split personality - sometimes being loud and disruptive and other times withdrawn.
She said: 'He wanted her to cover up because other men looked at her.
She wore Western clothing but always covered her arms and legs. She said she had never been introduced to Bilal's mother and she was conservative and wouldn't accept her.
She said they loved each other and were going to get married. He didn't like her wearing tight clothing and short clothes.'
On one occasion when Mr Saddique was away in Pakistan Willis was seen wearing 'bright lips' and more revealing and glamorous clothes and had appeared happy and 'less disruptive.'
The court heard Mr Saddique had been in contact with a former girlfriend who said he was not aggressive in their relationship. Mr Saddique had told the woman his relationship with Willis was 'beset by arguments' but that he had intended to marry her despite not having introduced her to his family.
He would refer to Willis as 'slag' and 'bitch' and from time to time would block contact with her on his phone.
He also became suspicious of her platonic friendship with a male work colleague after they were photographed together at the office Christmas party in 2013 and he found text messages and read her Facebook account.
On August 18 Mr Saddique went to pick up Willis from work only to see the man drive away at the same time and a vicious argument ensued.
Willis said when they got home she started to gather up her belongings - including a shower panel she had bought.
But her actions further angered Mr Saddique and he started dragging her by her hair and tried to carry her down the stairs. Willis went on her own accord and started to take some of her possessions from the kitchen - including a set of knives.
Prosecuting, Francis McIntee said: 'She said against a background of arguments whilst she was collecting the knives he taunted her that he had slept with a woman. He said he had slept with her and had done so on a number of occasions including as recently as the past week.'
During this exchange Mr Saddique, it is claimed, goaded Willis to hit or stab him.
He was injured after he grabbed Willis' hand as she held one of the kitchen knives, and ended up stabbing. The wound almost severed his femoral artery completely and cut into the femoral vein.
Willis phoned emergency services and begged for help and an hour later Mr Saddique was pronounced dead at Royal Blackburn Hospital.
Mr McIntee added: 'The prosecution do not allege that the defendant intended to kill Bilal Saddique - the evidence shows that the stabbing occurred in the heat of the moment.
Sarah Willis (centre) is on trial at Preston Crown Court
'But the defendant lashed out with a kitchen knife intending to cause really serious harm. It was driven deep into Mr Saddique's thigh, we say in an act of anger.'
Willis called 999 and was heard screaming down the phone.
As paramedics arrived Willis told one: 'Help me my boyfriend is bleeding to death - we had an argument and he's been stabbed' and was seen to be 'extremely distressed, almost in a daze' with blood on her clothing and hands.
When she was arrested she told police: 'We had an argument, had a bit of a fight. I grabbed a knife and then he grabbed it off me then he grabbed it and stabbed himself.
I can't believe this has happened, all over a stupid argument.
If anything happens to him I will kill myself'.
Neighbour Paul Etherington a hospital operating theatre practitioner, said: 'I first noticed her on her phone, sort of hysterical, crying and shouting for help. I shouted 'what's happened' and then she said: 'help he's bleeding' and ran back into the house.
Mr McIntee added: 'She had adopted the Islamic religion when a schoolgirl and was clearly keen to comply with Muslim standards of dress and chose not to show her arms or legs.
But there had been culture difficulty in introducing the defendant to Mr Saddique's family and neither he or her had met their respective partner's parents.
Willis, of Blackburn, is accused of murder and an alternate charge of manslaughter. She has denied both allegations.
The trial continues.
No comments:
Post a Comment