A man who went on the run for 12 years after brutally killing his estranged wife and their two young daughters has been found guilty of murder.

© Getty Juli Begum, 26, and daughters Anika and Thanha Khanum, five and six

Mohammed Abdul Shakur, 46, killed Juli Begum and daughters Anika and Thanha Khanum, aged five and six, on New Year's Day 2007.

He fled to Bangladesh a few days later, his trial at the Old Bailey heard.

While in Bangladesh, he told his sister-in-law: "Don't tell the police I murdered your sister. If you tell the police I will murder you and your children."

Ms Begum's other sister raised the alarm and police found the bodies at the family home in East Ham, London, on 10 January 2007.

Five-year-old Anika was laid across her mother's body and had been strangled with a sock after being "stunned" by a punch of slap to the face.

Elder sister Thanha had a fractured skull and the trial heard she had bled out on the carpet after being battered.

Their 4ft 8in mother is believed to have been smothered with a pillow or cushion.

Jurors heard how the couple had an arranged marriage in Bangladesh when Ms Begum was 19 but after he moved to London on a spousal visa he became violent and they ended up estranged.

They argued over Shakur's immigration status and financial contribution to the household.

The trial was told he had grabbed his wife's neck while she was seven months pregnant, put chilli in her eyes, and threatened to kill her family.

Ms Begum told her sister that Shakur did not like their children because they were girls and he wanted boys.

Shakur - who denied the murders - was extradited from India to face justice earlier this year.

He declined to give evidence during his trial but the jury found him guilty after two days of deliberations.

Shakur will be sentenced on Friday.