Muhammad Javed, 59, attacked his wife Saeeda Hussain with a hammer and slashed her with a machette at their home in Ilford, Essex in February 2018

A jealous illegal immigrant who murdered his wife believing she was having an affair has been jailed for 20 years after a court heard he was a victim of 'Othello Syndrome.'

Muhammad Javed, 59, battered 54-year-old Saeeda Hussain with a hammer and slashed her with a machete at their home in Ilford on February 13, 2018.

Leaving her body on the floor Javed locked the door to the living room before going to the local police station to confess, the Old Bailey heard.

Javed, who was in the Pakistani Air Force for 20 years was arrested the following day.

The court heard he was suffering from a condition named after the Shakespearean character who becomes wrongly convinced his wife is having an affair.

Jurors sitting at the Old Bailey took just four hours to convicted Javed of murder.

The couple had been married for thirty years and had five children, three of whom lived at the family home.

But Javed started abusing and beating his wife as he became convinced she was having an affair with customers from her small tailoring business.

'Mr Javed had behaved in a controlling and coercive manner towards his wife over a period of many years,' said Julian Evans, prosecuting.

'He would beat her regularly and she was scared of him.'

She did not report the matters to police as she was anxious her husband would be deported bringing shame upon her family.

'By February last year, the defendant and his wife slept in separate rooms of their address', continued Mr Evans.

'The defendant had suspected that his wife was having an affair behind his back and the prosecution say the suspicions of his were entirely without merit.

'These suspicions lead to him installing CCTV cameras at their home address to monitor her behaviour.

'He attacked her with a hammer and a machete and in doing so he caused a large number of wounds to her face and head.

The Old Bailey heard Saeeda Hussain suffered 46 separate blows from a bladed weapon and a further seven impacts from a hammer

'There were at least 46 separate impacts from the bladed weapon and seven impacts from the hammer.

'Having attacked her and leaving her for dead he changed out of the clothes at the of the attack such clothing being bloodstained.

'He left the weapons namely the machete and the hammer, and in due course he was to lock the door and left the home through one of the front windows.'

Shortly before 6pm he entered Ilford Police Station and spoke to a police officer, telling her: 'I just killed my wife.'

Asked to repeat what he had said, he repeated: 'I just killed my wife.'

Mr Evans said: 'The defendant said he had done everything for her and her children.

'He said that his wife did not want to listen to him, speak to him, or see him.'

Police attended the semi-detached house and found the body of Ms Hussain lying on the floor.

Mr Evans explained Javed's right to live in the UK had expired: 'That application was refused, and he had no right of appeal.

'Not withstanding that decision, the defendant remained in the UK and as of February last year he had no valid leave to remain in the UK or lawful business in the UK and was such liable to be deported.

'By contrast his wife enjoyed a right to be here. She had a British passport as did all of their children.'

Ms Hussain worked as a tailor but was forced to stop by her husband as he became suspicious she was having an affair.

Javed's defence counsel told the Old Bailey his client was suffering from 'Othello syndrome' and was convinced his wife was having an affair

He was convicted of a single murder charge.

In an impact statement the couple's daughter, Sidra Hussain spoke of the love she had for her mother 'who was brutally murdered by my father'.

'My mother would often say she would give her life for her family and really she did. My mother was the sister I never had.

'She was always there to help me get though the difficult times, the lonely times and times Henry I just needed to speak to someone privately.'

Ms Hussain said that she hoped that 'the man who I am forced to call my father remains in prison and is never allowed to harm or hurt any of his family members again.'

Defence counsel Joseph Stone told how Javed believed his wife was having an affair and became increasingly controlling, locking her in the house and regulating her bathing.

'The psychiatrist has termed it Othello syndrome.'

He asked the judge to consider: 'Whether this is a cold-blooded situation or whether it is a situation where he suffers from Othello syndrome for several years.

'This is not a case of significant planning and significant pre-meditation.

'It was clearly a good relationship where something has changed.

'He was proud of his background in the Pakistani air service.

Judge Rebecca Poulet jailed Javed for life with a minimum sentence of 20 years.

He claimed he had the tools with him because he was mending a fence in the garden but the judge said: 'I believe you bought the tools into the house with the intention to use them on your wife.

'You had previously threatened to kill her.

'A particularly horrifying feature of this case was the severe extent of her defensive injuries.

'I believe she fought for her life as you attacked her.'