Man jailed for killing man he suspected of having affair with wife

A man has been jailed for nine years at the Central Criminal Court for killing a man he suspected of having an affair with his wife.

Shahzad Hussain (35), with a last address at Woodland Avenue, Mosney, Co Meath, was previously jailed for life for murdering his wife’s cousin and his own distant relative Muhammad Arif (32).

The Pakistani man was also sentenced to seven years for seriously injuring his wife Rashida Bibi Haider (44) and two years for assaulting her on January 6th, 2011 at Mr Arif’s apartment in Fitzwilliam Court, Dyer Street, Drogheda, Co Louth. He had denied the charges.

However, in July 2014 the Court of Criminal Appeal quashed his murder conviction and ordered a retrial after a three-judge court found that there was a “very real risk of injustice” in the manner in which the central question of provocation was explained to the jury by the trial judge.

Last January Mr Shane Costelloe SC, prosecuting, told the Central Criminal Court that in circumstances where the court of appeal had directed a retrial, he had been instructed by the DPP that Hussain could be arraigned on count one.

On January 27th Hussain pleaded not guilty to the murder but guilty to the manslaughter of Mr Arif.

At the time prosecution counsel told the court that this plea “meets the case in the circumstances.”

The court previously heard that Hussain was currently serving a sentence on the other two counts on the indictment “as those were not overturned by the court of appeal.”

On Friday Ms Justice Margaret Heneghan extended her sympathy to the family of Mr Arif who she said had “died so tragically.”

Ms Justice Heneghan told the court that at the sentence hearing on April 4th, evidence was given by Detective Inspector Patrick Marry from Dundalk Garda Station concerning the “distressing facts of this case.”

“It has been said in cases where there has been a death that even a long sentence will end at some point but the suffering of the deceased’s family is indefinite and this is unfortunately true,” said the judge.

Ms Justice Heneghan said the aggravating factors in the case included the use of a knife by the convicted assailant, the severity of the wound inflicted and the hardship caused to the wife of Mr Arif.

“The mitigating factors are Mr Hussain’s early plea of guilty coupled with his genuine remorse. I have also taken into account as other mitigating factors his voluntary attendance at the garda station, his admission to the gardai to stabbing Mr Arif, his previous good character and the fact he did not bring a knife to the scene,” said Ms Justice Heneghan.

The judge then imposed a nine year custodial sentence and backdated it to the date of his arrest on January 7th 2011.