Violent attack
This week a court in London a court heard testimony that gambling addict Jalal Uddin allegedly stabbed his wife in the face after rowing about money in January. The 47-year old chef was said to have stabbed Asma Begun, 31, at their family home in East London where she later died. The couple had three children together.
During the hearing at the Old Bailey earlier this week, jurors heard that the attack was so extreme that a pathologist struggled to count the cuts on Mrs. Begum’s face.
Prosecutor Daniel Robinson QC said, “She was cut, stabbed, slashed, or chopped at with the knife at least 58 times. Such was the ferocity of the attack that pieces of the knife blade broke off in her face.”
Arguments over money
The pair, originally from Bangladesh, married in 2007 and settled in a flat in London, overlooking the O2 arena.
Uddin, a chef at an Indian restaurant in the city, was known to have a gambling problem. Staff members at his local William Hill betting shop in East London called him the “angry Indian” because he was known to kick the machines after losing.
Mrs. Begun had previously reported her husband to police for violence and verbal abuse. She was documented as saying in 2016 that he would hit her when she refused to hand over her housekeeping money for gambling and that he would often beat her if they rowed over money.
Getting into debt
When the attack took place in January, Uddin had already defaulted on a loan he had taken out with the Clydesdale bank for £16,000 ($20,224). Along with this, William Hill staff members recall Uddin losing over £1000 ($1264) at one occasion while visiting FOBT machines.
Mrs. Begum’s sister told jurors that the night before the attack, the victim said that Uddin had hit her. On the night of January 11, 2019, it seems that Uddin attacked his wife so violently that the blade snapped off in her face and one hand was cut so badly it was almost severed.
Mrs. Begum died at the scene.
Uddin has pleaded guilty to manslaughter but he denies murder. The trial continues.
FOBTs under fire
Much has been written and said about FOBTs over the last year because the maximum stake was slashed from £100 ($126) to just £2 ($2.53). However, the change didn’t take effect until April this year.
Bookies such as William Hill say the decrease in the maximum stake has led to a decline in high street betting.
