A man and his female friend have been sentenced to life in prison for murdering his wife and dumping her body in woodland.

A jury had unanimously found Akshar Ali and Yasmin Ahmed, both 27, guilty of the murder of Sinead Wooding. The 26-year-old was stabbed six times, including in the neck, and repeatedly struck on the head with a claw hammer in the cellar of Ahmed’s home in the Potternewton area of Leeds in May 2017.

The city’s crown court was told that Wooding and Ali were about to separate and had argued on the night of her death. The jury heard the row was probably about what would happen to Wooding’s children, two of whom were fathered by Ali.

Wooding’s body was kept in the basement for two days before being taken to woodland four miles (6.5km) away. She was wrapped in a duvet, tied up with wire, doused with petrol and set on fire. The remains were discovered by joggers on 14 May last year.



Vicky Briggs, 25, was found guilty of assisting an offender and sentenced to four years in prison. The court heard she helped Ali and Ahmed clean up and burn material after the murder. Ali’s mother and brother were acquitted by the jury of assisting offenders.

Sentencing Ali and Ahmed to minimum jail terms of 22 years each on Wednesday, Mr Justice Langstaff said: “It’s [rightfully] said that Ali was the instigator, that he must have struck the first blow. The number of blows and number of wounds indicate that it was a clear determined attempt to kill.

“It seems to me the deceased died, in my view, suffering seriously awaiting death. It was a sustained attack over a short period of time. The motives are obscure but it’s probably far less a motive in your case Ahmed than was the case of Ali. There is no evidence of any serious hostility between you [Ahmed] and the victim.”

In a statement read by police after the hearing, Wooding’s family said Ali and Ahmed “murdered her in what must have been a horrific ordeal, and then treated her body disgustingly as they tried to cover up what they had done”.

“We feel the pain of our loss every waking moment of every day and are still struggling to understand how another human being could be so cruel and take her life in such a horrible and brutal way,” the statement read.

It added: “Ali and Ahmed did not have the decency to admit their guilt or take responsibility for their actions, which meant the family has had to sit in court and listen to the horrible truth of what they did. “No amount of time in prison is ever going to bring Sinead back and it will never be long enough. They have taken her whole life away but they will still get to see their families. We will never forgive them for what they have done.”