Crossbow attack: Ramanodge Unmathallegadoo shot ex 'as revenge' Published duration 9 April 2019

image caption Sana Muhammad, also known as Devi Unmathallegadoo, was eight months pregnant

An "obsessed" man shot dead his heavily pregnant ex-wife with a crossbow in a "deliberate and calculated act of revenge", a court has heard.

Prosecutors say Ramanodge Unmathallegadoo burst out of a garden shed in east London and attacked Sana Muhammad after plotting against her and her new partner for a year.

The mother-of-five's baby survived, having been born by Caesarean section.

Mr Unmathallegadoo denies murder and the attempted destruction of the baby.

Prosecutor Peter Wright QC told jurors at the Old Bailey the defendant had "not reacted well" when his former partner began a new relationship.

He allegedly watched the couple's home, making notes about the comings and goings of the family, and stored weaponry in the shed.

Jurors heard that when his cache was discovered by a neighbour in March 2018 he set about replacing it - taking up position in the shed on the morning of 12 November armed with two new crossbows, bolts, a hammer, a knife, cable ties and duct tape.

image caption Ramanodge Unmathallegadoo allegedly stored weapons in the garden shed in Ilford

The prosecution says his plan was to restrain his ex-wife and her partner and kill them and their unborn child but he was disturbed when the new partner went to the shed.

The defendant chased him into the house in Ilford, carrying the two crossbows, and shot his ex-wife as she fled upstairs, the court heard.

He was disarmed by two of the older children in the house and told them: "It would have been easier if you guys weren't here, like I would have done it," the court heard.

The court heard the 51-year-old defendant and his ex-wife - also known as Devi Unmathallegadoo - divorced in 2014, having had an arranged marriage.