Jealous woman jailed for life for murdering sister in family home

A scorned lover has been jailed for at least 22 years for a ferocious knife attack on her own sister in a bid to win back the affections of her brother-in-law.

Carer Sabah Khan, 27, had been having sex with Hefeez Rehman, husband of her older sister Saima Khan, 34, with whom she was living in Luton, Bedfordshire.

But when Mr Rehman's attentions cooled and he returned to the mother of his four children, Khan became bitterly jealous and plotted for weeks to get her out of the way.

She searched the internet for how to get away with murder and paid a "black magic priest" in Pakistan £5,000 to do the deed by "remote control", the Old Bailey heard.

The carer bought a large kitchen knife from Tesco and, on May 23 last year, lured her sister home from a family funeral, saying one of her children was crying.

She donned gloves and black clothes and lay in wait.

Then as Saima Khan returned, she switched off the lights and carried out a "vicious and sustained" attack in the hallway, with the children upstairs.

Over eight minutes, she inflicted 68 sites of injury to the head and body, slicing through her hand and neck, the court heard.

It was a scene of "absolute carnage" and Khan carried on stabbing her sister, even after she was dead, Judge Christopher Moss QC said.

Khan went on to stage the scene of a burglary before calling her father and 999, claiming she was in the shower when her sister was attacked by an intruder.

The defendant stuffed her bloodied clothes, gloves and murder weapon into a bin bag which was later found in a bedroom at the Overstone Road house.

She went on to claim to police she had overheard a phone call between her sister and a lover who threatened to harm her.

Khan pleaded guilty to murder and was jailed for life by Judge Christopher Moss QC.