Shrewsbury man denies bludgeoning his wife with shock absorber before setting fire to their home
A jury is deciding whether a Shrewsbury healthcare worker who set fire to the flat he shared with his wife last year had earlier attempted to kill her during a “brutal attack” with a shock absorber.
Javed Qureshi, aged 30, denies attempted murder and the lesser charge of inflicting grievous bodily harm. He has also denied a charge of arson with recklessness to endanger life.
Following a five-day trial at Stafford Crown Court this week, the jury had heard that Qureshi and his wife had been married since 2021 but their relationship was “effectively over” and she had recently applied for an Islamic divorce.
The court was told that on the morning of October 31 last year, at the flat they shared in Ellesmere Road, Qureshi suddenly subjected his wife to “extreme violence” that saw him strike her around the head with the shock absorber as she lay in bed.
He then set fire to their Ellesmere Road flat in a bid to “commit suicide”.
