Wasif Hussain and his wife, Nabela Tabassum, were caught on camera choosing animals masks at Poundland and then leaving his stepmum’s home after a brutal attack in Kings Norton
This is the moment a newlywed couple visited a popular discount store to buy masks to disguise themselves as they attempted to murder the husband’s stepmum.
Wasif Hussain, 21 and his wife Nabela Tabassum, 19, are seen casually browsing the shelves at Poundland before buying giraffe masks.
The couple wore the masks as they attacked Hussain’s stepmum, Arifa Nazmin with a knife and hammer at her home in Midhurst Road, Kings Norton on the evening of January 29 last year.
Read more: Newlywed couple who tried to murder stepmum while wearing animal masks jailed
Both he and his wife were caught on camera, buying the masks and were also captured heading down the stairs and entering the kitchen after the attack.
CCTV had been installed at the home, where the defendants lived as well, as tensions grew.
They are then seen fleeing the house with Hussain asking ‘have you got the keys’. And then asking whether his wife had his phone, adding ‘we need to go now’.
The pair had carried out a frenzied attack with Hussain striking Mrs Nazmin on the head with a hammer, then strangling, punching and stabbing her.
All the while Tabassum restrained the family victim.
Wasif Hussain, 21, and his wife, Nabela Tabassum, 19, hatched a plan to kill Hussain’s stepmum Arifa Nazmin, buying giraffe masks at Poundland to carry out the attack
Mrs Nazmin suffered a horrific stab wound to her arms as well as defensive knife injuries but survived the attack.
She had managed to convince the couple to let her go upstairs where she was able to lock herself in a room and call us for help.
The couple are caught on camera heading down the stairs with Hussain having a hood covering his head but Tabassum is visible.
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And they are both clearly seen and heard outside the property in footage released by police.
While they escaped the home, police quickly caught up with them arresting them in Bolton in the early hours of the following day at a Travelodge.
The motivation for the killing was said to be them being angry claiming Mrs Nazmin of ‘not doing any chores’ and ‘treating the family home like a hotel’.
Would-be killers, newlyweds Wasif Hussain, 21 and his wife Nabela Tabassum, 19, browsing Poundland for masks before choosing giraffe ones to carry out a horrific attack on his stepmum
They snapped and carried out the attack after they had been asked to leave the home.
They were both found guilty of attempted murder at Birmingham Crown Court in March.
They were jailed for a total of more than 20 years – Hussain receiving a 15-year term and his wife Tabassum told she would be put behind bars for nine years – at a sentencing hearing at the same court on Friday (June 20).
One of the giraffe masks worn by Hussain and Tabassum as they tried to kill his stepmother Arifa Nazmin.
Detective Inspector Laura Allen, from Public Protection, said: “The two will spend many years behind bars and highlights to anyone who acts in this way that they will be arrested, charged and brought before the courts.
“This was a calculated and frenzied attack on a defenceless woman using weapons including a knife and hammer. She was very lucky to have survived this attack.
“I would like to thank Sgt Gareth Glass who worked tirelessly along with his team to gather vital evidence which ultimately led to Hussain and Tabassum’s conviction.
“My thoughts are with the victim who continues to recover from the trauma of her experience.”