Luton woman who enticed her sister to her death loses appeal to cut jail sentence

Sabah Khan, of Newark Road, admitting murdering mum-of-four Saima Khan, 34, and was jailed for life at the Old Bailey in October last year.

The 28-year-old was having an affair with her sister’s husband, Hefeez Rehman, Mr Justice Morris told London’s Appeal Court on Tuesday.

Khan was ordered to serve at least 22 years behind bars before she could even apply for parole.

The victim lived with her husband, four children, sister, brother and parents, the court heard.

On May 23 2016, Khan was looking after the four kids while her sister was at work.

She sent text messages ‘enticing’ the victim to come home, where she stabbed her multiple times, while the children were in the house.

Khan then ‘staged’ the scene to make it look like her sister had been killed in an attempted burglary gone wrong.

But police found blood-stained clothing and the murder weapon in her bedroom, and investigations revealed the relationship between her and Mr Rehman.

Khan’s internet search history included ‘venomous snakes for sale’ and ‘how to hire a killer’, as well as ‘how to poison someone’ and ‘16 steps to kill someone and not get caught’.

Evidence showed Khan had paid cash for a large kitchen knife at Tesco on May 19, but prosecutors accepted that she had not brought the murder weapon to the scene for the purpose of murder.

She had decided to kill her sister only on the afternoon of the murder, after learning that the rest of the family were going to a funeral.

Mr Justice Morris said the court understood the ‘terrible tragedy’ which had befallen the victim’s family.

The judge who jailed Khan said it was a ‘brutal and prolonged’ attack. Evidence indicated she had continued to stab her sister even after she was dead.

She had ‘enticed her sister’ to come home with murder in mind and had been ‘planning her death for weeks’.

Lawyers for Khan argued today that her minimum jail term was far too harsh and should be reduced.

They pointed to her guilty plea, relative youth, good character and remorse.

While the murder had been pre-meditated, the ‘method of executing’ it had only been decided hours before.

For many years the sisters had been ‘extremely close’, the court was told.

But Mr Justice Morris, sitting with two other judges, said it was a ‘horrendous and brutal murder involving at least 68 stab injuries’.

Dismissing the appeal, he concluded: “We are not persuaded that the minimum term imposed by the sentencing judge was manifestly excessive.”