Guilty: Poplar man who murdered wife after she challenged his gambling addiction

Asma Begum. Picture: Met Police (Image: Archant)

The Old Bailey heard how Asma Begum, 31, had suffered slash and stab wounds to her head, neck and body in the flat when London Ambulance Service staff arrived at the flat she shared with Jalal Uddin in City Island Way, Poplar, on the afternoon of January 11.

She was pronounced dead at the scene.

Uddin, 47, handed himself in at Croydon police station in the early hours of the following morning and was charged with murder the following day.

A subsequent police investigation found that the day before the murder, Uddin had taken £200 out of Asma's bank account.

He had gambled that money - intended to buy food for the couple and their three children - away within an hour of withdrawing it.

When she challenged Uddin over the money, Asma was attacked and left with what Detective Inspector Brett Hagan described as "truly horrific injuries".

He added: "Asma's lifeless body was found by her family members.

"The scene greeting them and the emergency services personnel who attended that day will invariably live with them forever.

"Uddin was seen walking calmly away from their block of flats and he subsequently handed himself into a police station several hours later stating to the station officer: 'My wife hurt me.'"

The couple had married in Bangladesh in 2007 and had a son and twin daughters.

Asma's family paid tribute to her, saying: "Asma was more than just a mother, wife, sister and aunt. She was an amazing mother who put her children first at all costs.

"Anyone who met her could always find a friend in her. She was loving, caring and always filled any room with laughter.

"This is a huge loss to our family, three children have lost their mother. We have lost a sister, an aunt and friend. The hole that has been left in our lives can never be filled."

Uddin will be sentenced at the Old Bailey tomorrow (Thursday, July 18).