Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Murderer of three jailed for over 40 years

A MAN who murdered his wife and their two children in 2006 before fleeing to Bangladesh has been jailed for 40 years.

Mohammed Abdul Shakur, 46, was found guilty at the Old Bailey last year of the murder of his wife, 26-year-old Juli Begum, and their two daughters, five-year-old Anika Khanum and six-year-old Thanha Khanum, at the family home in East Ham.


At the same court on Thursday (6), the Bangladeshi was sentenced to life imprisonment to serve a minimum of 40 years.

The court heard that the police were called to the family address in Nelson Street, E6, at around 12.35pm on January 1, 2007, after a concerned family member had not seen or heard from Juli for around 10 days, and the children had not returned to school after the Christmas break.

The police forced their entry into the address. There they found the bodies of Juli, Anika and Thanha concealed under a duvet in a rear bedroom.

Detectives had launched a murder investigation and Shakur was quickly identified as a suspect after it emerged that he had purchased a one-way ticket to Bangladesh at the time of the murder.

Juli, Thanha, and Anika.

Several years passed by without any trace of Shakur. However, in May 2013, the Foreign Commonwealth Office (FCO) representative called the detectives to inform them that Shakur had been arrested for being in India illegally.

It is thought that he had been crossing back and forth between the countries on a regular basis for work.

Formal extradition proceedings began, and Shakur said he would not oppose extradition.

The process was not completed until April 2019, when Shakur was finally extradited back to the UK on April 6. He was taken to the Heathrow police station, where he was charged with three counts of murder. He did not make any comment.

The court would hear that Shakur and Juli had had an arranged marriage in Bangladesh in 1999, and she had subsequently sponsored his immigration visa so that they could return to the UK.

However, incidents of domestic conflict began to emerge just a few months into the marriage.

The police were called to domestic incidents at the couple’s home, but the allegations were never substantiated and so no one was ever charged.

More For You

F-35B jet

The UK has agreed to move the aircraft to the Maintenance Repair and Overhaul (MRO) facility at the airport.

Indian Air Force

F-35B jet still stranded in Kerala, UK sends engineers for repair

UK AVIATION engineers are arriving in Thiruvananthapuram to carry out repairs on an F-35B Lightning jet belonging to the Royal Navy, which has remained grounded after an emergency landing 12 days ago.

The jet is part of the HMS Prince of Wales Carrier Strike Group of the UK's Royal Navy. It made the emergency landing at Thiruvananthapuram airport on June 14. The aircraft, valued at over USD 110 million, is among the most advanced fighter jets in the world.

Keep ReadingShow less
Ahmedabad air crash
Relatives carry the coffin of a victim, who was killed in the Air India Flight 171 crash, during a funeral ceremony in Ahmedabad on June 15, 2025. (Photo: Getty Images)

Ahmedabad crash: Grief, denial and trauma haunt families

TWO weeks after the crash of Air India flight AI-171 in Ahmedabad, families of victims are grappling with grief and trauma. Psychiatrists are now working closely with many who continue to oscillate between denial and despair.

The crash occurred on June 12, when the London-bound flight hit the BJ Medical College complex shortly after takeoff, killing 241 people on board and 29 on the ground. Only one passenger survived.

Keep ReadingShow less
Starmer apologises for 'island of strangers' immigration speech

Prime minister Keir Starmer delivers a speech at The British Chambers of Commerce Global Annual Conference in London on June 26, 2025. (Photo by EDDIE MULHOLLAND/AFP via Getty Images)

Starmer apologises for 'island of strangers' immigration speech

PRIME MINISTER Sir Keir Starmer has admitted he was wrong to warn that Britain could become an "island of strangers" due to high immigration, saying he "deeply" regrets the controversial phrase.

Speaking to The Observer, Sir Keir said he would not have used those words if he had known they would be seen as echoing the language of Enoch Powell's notorious 1968 "rivers of blood" speech.

Keep ReadingShow less
Sir Sajid Javid leads commission 'tackling social divisions'

Sir Sajid Javid (Photo by Tom Nicholson-WPA Pool/Getty Images)

Sir Sajid Javid leads commission 'tackling social divisions'

A cross-party group has been formed to tackle the deep divisions that sparked last summer's riots across England. The new commission will be led by former Tory minister Sir Sajid Javid and ex-Labour MP Jon Cruddas.

The Independent Commission on Community and Cohesion has backing from both prime minister Sir Keir Starmer and Tory leader Kemi Badenoch. It brings together 19 experts from different political parties and walks of life.

Keep ReadingShow less
Air India flight crash
Air India's Boeing 787-8 aircraft, operating flight AI-171 to London Gatwick, crashed into a medical hostel complex shortly after take-off from Ahmedabad on June 12.
Getty Images

India declines UN investigator’s participation in Air India crash probe: Report

INDIA has declined a request from the United Nations aviation agency to allow one of its investigators to observe the probe into the Air India crash that killed 260 people in Ahmedabad on June 12, Reuters reported, citing two senior sources familiar with the matter.

The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) had offered to provide assistance by sending one of its investigators, following the crash of the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner earlier this month. It was an unusual move, as ICAO typically deploys investigators only upon request from the country leading the investigation.

Keep ReadingShow less