Attorney General urged to review release of man who forced wife to drink bleach

The Attorney General is facing calls to review comments made by a judge who handed a suspended sentence to a man who forced his wife to drink bleach and beat her with a cricket bat.

Mustafa Bashir, 34, was spared prison by Judge Richard Mansell QC, who told Manchester Crown Court that he was not convinced that his wife, Fakhara Karim, was a vulnerable person, because she had friends and had graduated from university with a 2:1.

As a result, Labour MP Jess Phillips said she would raise the case with the Attorney General and Justice Secretary.

“The words of the judge, if they have been reported accurately, are frankly astonishing,” she told The Guardian. “The idea that a woman’s educational status or her friendships are being used to judge her vulnerability completely fails to understand the nature of domestic abuse."

In a separate interview with the BBC’s Today programme, she said: “Your vulnerability and your risk is a completely dynamic thing... There's no category that domestic violence does not touch. It does not follow class lines, it does not follow race lines, it does not follow age lines.”

Judge Mansell heard that Mr Bashir had hit his 33-year-old wife Fakhara Karim with a cricket bat during a jealous outburst. On another occasion he held the 33-year-old by the neck, poured bleach down her throat and forced her to take tablets while ordering to kill herself.

Ms Karim reportedly told the court how her confidence was crushed by her jealous lover, who berated her for wearing westernised clothes and called her friends: “English slag girls”.

Under the "slip rule", The Crown Court can change a sentence up to 56 days after it is handed down.

The usual reason for altering a sentence is that further information relevant to the sentence has become available; the court has overlooked some statutory provisions limiting its powers; or the sentence is found to take effect in an unexpected manner.

Sandra Horley, chief executive of Refuge, said: “Judge Mansell's comments – that he was not convinced of the victim's 'vulnerability' – show a shocking ignorance around the impact of domestic violence on women.

“What a woman does for a job, her level of education or the number of friends she has makes no difference; for any woman, domestic violence is a devastating crime that has severe and long-lasting impacts.”

She added: “There are still so many myths and misconceptions surrounding domestic violence. People often think that it only happens in poor families on council estates, but the truth is that domestic violence affects women of all ages, classes and backgrounds.

"Rather than perpetuating damaging myths, the judiciary must be better trained to understand domestic violence.”

The court was reportedly told that if Bashir was spared custody he would be employed as a professional player by Leicestershire Cricket Club, but the club has denied this.

A statement on its website said: “Leicestershire County Cricket Club are aware of stories that have been published this morning regarding Mustafa Bashir. The club are bemused by these stories. Any references to Mustafa Bashir signing or being approached to sign for Leicestershire County Cricket Club are completely false.

“The club have never spoken to Mustafa Bashir or an agent, nor offered a contract to the player.”

A Manchester Crown Court spokesman said Bashir was given an 18-month sentence, suspended for two years, after admitting assault occasioning actual bodily harm, assault by beating, destroying or damaging property and using a destructive substance with intent to maim.

A spokesperson from the Attorney General’s Office told The Independent: “Although the Law Officers (the Attorney General and Solicitor General) do have the power to ask the Court of Appeal to review certain sentences which appear to be unduly lenient, this power only applies to sentences imposed for a limited number of offences which are specified in legislation.

“The offence for which Mustafa Bashir was sentenced is not an offence to which the scheme applies. It is therefore not possible for the Law Officers to refer the sentence passed to the Court of Appeal for review.

“The government is currently looking to extend the scope of the Unduly Lenient Scheme, so a wider range of sentences can be challenged.”