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Man convicted of murdering family | |
(30 minutes later) | |
A 36-year-old man has been jailed for life after being found guilty of killing his wife and three children. | |
Rahan Arshad beat his family to death with a rounders bat at their home in Cheadle Hulme, Greater Manchester, before fleeing to Thailand. | Rahan Arshad beat his family to death with a rounders bat at their home in Cheadle Hulme, Greater Manchester, before fleeing to Thailand. |
The bodies of Uzma Rahan, 32, and children Adam, 11, Abbas, eight, and Henna, six, were not found for a month. | The bodies of Uzma Rahan, 32, and children Adam, 11, Abbas, eight, and Henna, six, were not found for a month. |
Arshad, of Turves Road, had denied four counts of murder but was convicted by a jury at Manchester Crown Court. | Arshad, of Turves Road, had denied four counts of murder but was convicted by a jury at Manchester Crown Court. |
Life sentence | |
The jury, consisting of eight women and four men, took about two hours to reach a unanimous verdict. | |
They did not believe the taxi driver's claim that he had killed his wife after arriving home to find she had killed their children. | |
Mr Justice David Clarke sentenced Arshad to life imprisonment and said that in this case life "meant life". | |
Mrs Rahan and her three children all died from head injuries | |
Uzma's mother and two brothers were in the public gallery beside friends and other relatives as the verdicts came in. | |
Her brother, Rahat Ali, shouted "Yes" as the jury convicted Arshad of his sister's murder. | |
The court was told that Arshad was motivated by jealousy after discovering his wife was having an affair with a family friend known as Nikki. | |
During his trial, the jury heard how he battered Uzma with more than 23 blows in their bedroom before beating his children to death in their playroom. | During his trial, the jury heard how he battered Uzma with more than 23 blows in their bedroom before beating his children to death in their playroom. |
Murders 'plotted' | |
Their bodies were so badly decomposed that police needed dental records to confirm their identities. | Their bodies were so badly decomposed that police needed dental records to confirm their identities. |
He had planned the murders in advance, buying the rounders bat the day before and booking his ticket to Thailand more than two weeks earlier. | He had planned the murders in advance, buying the rounders bat the day before and booking his ticket to Thailand more than two weeks earlier. |
Police found the decomposed bodies on 20 August 2006. | |
After detectives tracked him down in Thailand, he confessed to their murders moments after he was flown back to the UK. | |
When arrested he told officers: "I confess to the murder. My beautiful kids, I don't regret killing that bitch, but my kids, killing my kids..." | |
But he later refused to answer police questions, claiming his wife had beaten the children to death and he killed her. |