Last updated at 12:16 AM on 23rd October 2010
A jilted teenager who stalked and then ‘executed’ his ex-girlfriend was jailed for life yesterday.
Gulamyr Akhter, 19, stabbed A-level student Asha Muneer, 18, on a towpath in Reading in January ‘because he could not tolerate her rejection’.
She was stabbed in the face, head and neck more than 30 times in a killing so brutal it broke the handle of the knife and bent its blade.
Akhter was found guilty of murder by a jury at Reading Crown Court and sentenced to life with a minimum term of 20 years.
The Judge Zoe Smith told him: 'This was nothing less than a deliberate execution.
'This was a brutal attack with a knife which you carried with you to kill her.
'The killing was carefully premeditated and planned.'
The prosecution alleged that Akhter, of Reading, murdered the young woman 'because he could not tolerate her rejection of him'.
He had bombarded Ms Muneer with more than 600 calls and texts in the two weeks before her death.
He also lied to police, claiming he did not have her number on the mobile he gave them and had not contacted her for weeks.
He was 'embittered by rejection' after the student ended their relationship in July last year, the court was told.
Following the split he sent her a long list of abusive text messages.
One read: 'I'm going to make your life hell.' Another said: 'I wish you go through hell and you die.'
John Price QC told the court Akhter had two phones, one of which he had kept secret from police.
He said Akhter used one of these phones to harass Ms Muneer and that both handsets could be traced to the location and time of her death on January 18 this year.
Akhter was accused of repeatedly stabbing Ms Muneer as she walked through Reading after a shift at a Laura Ashley store, where she worked as a part-time sales assistant.
Mr Price said Akhter had arranged to be dropped off by friends near the Brunel Retail Park.
He then followed her, attacking her on a towpath beside the River Kennet, near the retail park.
Video footage revealed that, during the journey, she was joined by a man in dark clothes and a hooded top, carrying a rucksack.
The last sighting of her on CCTV footage is shortly before 6.30pm. She is seen walking towards the underpass where her body was found nearly two hours later.
Akhter then arranged to be picked up from the retail park at around 7pm.
He travelled with friends to a deserted field, where he set fire to clothing, his rucksack and a mobile phone he had used to harrass his victim.
Home Office pathologist Kenneth Shorrocks said she died as a result of multiple wounds to the neck.
Cuts to Ms Muneer's hand were consistent with defence injuries, he said.
Giving evidence in his defence, Akhter denied killing her, saying he was 'shocked and devastated' by her murder.
He told the jury: 'I feel devastated and devastated about myself that I am getting wrongly accused of something I ain't done.'
However he admitted lying to police when they went to his home in the early hours of January 19, claiming he had not seen Ms Muneer for a long time and had not been out during the evening.
He told the jury: 'I was paranoid smoking cannabis. If I told them the truth, I thought I might get the blame for it.'
The jury of six men and six women delivered the unanimous guilty verdict in four hours, 13 minutes.
Judge Smith added: 'Asha Muneer was a beautiful and popular girl who was embracing life. She wanted to go to university and have a career."
Judge Smith said she had read the impact statement from Miss Muneer's parents and brother.
She said: 'The extent of their grief is great and their loss has been devastating to them.'
As the verdict was read out, Miss Muneer's parents wept in the public gallery.
In a statement released through Thames Valley Police Ms Muneer's family: 'We have been torn apart by the loss of Asha, who was a beautiful young lady who had so many dreams and hopes for her life, now those dreams will never come true all because of one man's pure evil and jealousy eaten up with rage.
'Because of this man we have lost everything and as a family the pain and suffering we feel only gets worse as days go by.
'The trial has been a terrible ordeal for us all but we are happy to see that justice has been done.'
Det Supt Karen Trego, who led the investigation, said: 'This was a determined attack which left a young girl dead and has caused a family to suffer the loss of their much loved daughter.
'Akhter has shown no remorse for killing his former girlfriend and his denials of any involvement has forced Asha's family to endure a lengthy trial.
'Asha's family have maintained a quiet dignity between her death and the trial and they have asked for some privacy to come to terms with what has happened.'
Supt Stuart Greenfield, the Reading Local Policing Area Commander, paid tribute to
Ms Muneer's family who he said had 'acted with great dignity in deeply distressing circumstances'.
He also extended his thanks to the investigating officers, those who gave evidence and the community.
CPS prosecutor Alan Blake added: 'Asha Muneer was a vibrant and popular young woman with her whole life ahead of her. She had ended her relationship with ex-boyfriend Gulamyr Akhter last summer and moved on with her life, but he could not accept this, and harassed her by bombarding her with threatening text messages.
'On January 18 this year, Gulamyr followed Asha after work and stabbed her in a pre-meditated and vicious knife attack, on a cold, dark night in an isolated spot on a riverside path in Reading.
'Gulamyr Akhter can only be described as manipulative and controlling. He lied to police and gave a false alibi, then sought to cover up his actions by burning his clothes.
'The evidence was overwhelming - there was CCTV footage, witness accounts and mobile phone call and cell site analysis. The CPS had no hesitation therefore in bringing this man before the courts.'
From: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1322897/Jilted-teenager-stabbed-Asha-Muneer-death-facing-life-jail.html
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