Mustafa Bashir, aspiring professional cricketer, has been spared a lengthy jail sentence despite consistently abusing his spouse.
Judge Richard Mansell QC ruled his wife, who possessed a 2:1 degree, did not fit the description of a victim.
The judge explained how Fakhara Karim, who had been beaten with a cricket bat and forced to drink bleach, was not vulnerable because she was “an intelligent woman with a network of friends” and had a college degree.
However, the torrent of abuse experienced by the 33-year-old receptionist has left her feeling a shadow of her former self.
In a statement, she explained: “Before I met Mustafa Bashir I was a confident, active and humorous person. I looked after myself and liked dressing up.
“I spent money on myself and enjoyed going shopping. I felt the future was bright. I was in good mental health and felt strong. After the abuse my confidence was very low and I hid myself away from family and friends.
“He didn’t like me socialising and I couldn’t accept my friends’ requests to go out. When she was at university she described herself as not being able to complete the work at home. Once we split it took months for me to get my self belief back and I am not back to the person I was before.
“It will take a long time to get back to how I was before. My education results got better after the split and I got a 2:1 and was able to qualify for my masters. I still find it very difficult to trust people.
“I can’t see how I could trust another man again after what happened to me. I dreamt of being in a happy relationship and I do not feel now that that will ever happen with someone else.”
During the tumultuous marriage, 34-year old Bashir berated her for wearing western clothing, tried to turn her against her own family, and would call her a “slag” when she went out with her female friends.
One particular occurrence saw Mr Bashir strike his former partner in the back with his cricket bat because she had spent too long talking to a friend on the phone, saying: “If I hit you with this bat with my full power then you would be dead.”
The assailants lawyer explained to the courts, how a suspended prison would allow him to accept a place at Leicestershire Cricket Club.
Suspending Bashir’s 18-month jail term, Judge Mansell QC ordered Bashir to attend a “building better relationships” workshop and reprimanded him from contacting Miss Karim under terms of a restraining order.
He told Bashir: “You told her how to spend her money and you tried to turn her against her family who you regularly insulted. She would buy clothes that were of a western style which you disapproved of and called her a slag and said her friends were ‘English slag girls.’
“But I am not convinced she was a vulnerable person. Sometimes women who moved from their country become trapped in a relationship where they lose their support network of family and friends and cannot speak the language.
“This is not the case here. She is plainly an intelligent woman with a network of friends and did go on to graduate university with a 2:1 and a masters – although this has had an ongoing affect on her. She has difficulty trusting people now, especially men.”
He added: “With regard to the mitigating factors I am not convinced of your remorse for her, but you are sorry for the position you find yourself in over the last two years. Your current partner is supporting you in court and she complains of no violence. You have employment prospects of being employed in cricket for Leicestershire Cricket Club.
“This court will not tolerate violence in a relationship of this nature. It is a very fine line between imprisonment and a suspended sentence.”
Manchester Crown Court heard how the Pair had met in Pakistan and married in 2013. But straight away, Bashir assumed the role of “controlling and dominating” husband.
The couple had been on a day out to Rochdale Lake in April 2014 when an argument broke out about Bashir travelling to the Netherlands and he grabbed Ms Karim by her neck and was squeezing, until a member of the public threatened to go to the police.
Prosecutor Roger Brown said: “The parties went back home where the argument continued. He grabbed her neck again, so much that she said it was hurting a lot and at one point he picked up a knife and said that he would kill himself and she begged him not to.
“He took her into the bathroom where he grabbed a bottle of bleach and he made her drink the bleach so she would kill herself. She spat that out as she was unable to swallow it. Then he gave her tablets from the house and told her to take them. She did but again she was unable to swallow them.
“He said to her ‘I want you to kill yourself’.
