A wounded woman who was left for dead after she was attacked with a stick and smothered with a pillow frantically told police her husband wanted to kill her, a court has heard.

Yasmin Shahid was forced to wander the streets of North Ormesby in a desperate plea for help after her husband Altaf Mahmood, 60, repeatedly beat her with a stick, on June 27 2021.

Teesside Crown Court heard Ms Shahid had several cuts and bruises to her face, a swollen right eye and approximately a three-inch-deep cut exposing her skull.

A witness who came to the aid of Ms Shahid on a nearby street said they saw her “crying and wailing” due to her injuries and was “banging on the door of the police station” trying to get help.

When asked who had assaulted her, Ms Shahid told a police officer: “It’s my husband and he wanted to kill me.”

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Mahmood is on trial accused of attempted murder after travelling to Teesside from Coventry the day before. The prosecution say Mahmood’s motivation to murder his spouse was because she had left him and that he had “carefully and meticulously” planned every step of the vicious attack.

Mahmood admits assaulting his wife but denies attempted murder.

On Tuesday, the jury was shown CCTV footage tracing Mahmood’s movements around Teesside in the build up and aftermath of the attack. Street cameras captured him carrying a white bag, believed to contain a face mask and a stick, in the early hours of June 27. He was seen entering Ms Shahid’s North Ormesby home on Maria Street at 1:32am and left at 4:03am.  

The court heard Mahmood is alleged to have instructed his injured wife to tell their son: “Tell him that people have come to your house and have hit you, and to tell him to call an ambulance,” before adding “don’t provide my name to the police”.

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The jury was shown images of Mahmood’s thumb, alleged to have been injured in the attack, with teeth marks. But Ms Shahid denied biting his thumb while trying to fight off her attacker, saying: “you’re making all these false allegations… I did not bite him”.

Mahmood was later picked up by a taxi from Middlesbrough town centre and travelled to Stockton to pick up his parked car.

A statement read out in court from the taxi driver said: “He told me he had been playing cards with friends and there was no room for him to sleep there so he had to leave. He looked a little lost as though a little depressed. He did not seem to know where to be.”

The 60-year-old, from Coventry, is diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.

CCTV footage then showed Mahmood driving his black Jaguar out of Stockton and onto the A66 before stopping at the BP garage at Sadberge, Darlington.

A statement from a shop worker said Mahmood handed a post-it note to them which said ‘mother ill’ and instructed them to call a telephone number. Mahmood then left a voicemail message for his son Arsal before laving the petrol station.  

It wasn’t until 5:25am when Ms Shahid left the house, holding the wound on her head. She was taken to hospital and Mahmood was arrested later that day in Coventry.

The trial continues.

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