Man, 50, guilty of murdering his ‘secret wife’
A “COLD and calculated” businessman who strangled his ‘secret wife’ to death in her own home and then staged it as a burglary has been jailed for life.
Najeeba Al-Ariqy, aged 47, was choked by Ameen Thabet at her address at Sutton Street, Aston, on March 23 last year.
Judge Melbourne Inman QC said that Thabet, who was convicted by a jury at Birmingham Crown Court of murder, must remain in jail for a minimum of 18 years before being considered for release.
Thabet, who runs Linton Metals in Sparkbrook, was already married to another woman. However, he struck up a relationship with Mrs Al-Ariqy, originally from Yemen, and decided to take her as his second wife – as is permitted in Islam. They had a small marriage ceremony, referred to as a Nikkah, in her home in 2019, but Thabet kept it a secret from his first wife.
The relationship between the defendant and Mrs Al-Ariqy was turbulent. They ‘divorced’ twice that year, agreeing to probation or ‘cooling off’ periods away from each other for a number of weeks.
By early 2020, she agreed to reconcile with Thabet again but on the conditions that he leave his first wife and have a public wedding ceremony, which was set to take place in April that year.
It was also said that another man, from Bahrain, was looking to marry Mrs Al-Ariqy in what was a ‘‘seriously complicating factor’’.
But things appeared to go wrong again a few days before she died when doubts emerged over whether Thabet’s mother gave her blessing to the union.
The 50-year-old, from West Park Road, Smethwick, was initially treated as a witness before police arrested and charged him with murder.
Judge Inman QC told Thabet: “It is clear from the evidence that Najeeba was in two minds whether she would remarry you. On March 23, you went to Najeeba’s home. Najeeba made it clear she would not marry you again unless you were able to divorce your wife. You then strangled Najeeba either with an arm lock or a ligature. This was a determined killing and you strangled her until you were sure she would die.
“This was not a sudden loss of temper. Your actions were cold and calculated and you set about creating a false trail to cover your crime.”
David Walbank QC, defending, said: “The trigger for the tragic events was an argument between them which occurred on his arrival. He accepts he lost control.”
Mr Walbank said Thabet was deeply remorseful and hoped this belated acceptance would help to bring some closure to the victim’s family and friends.