A FAMILY who left a bride in a vegetative state by allegedly force-feeding her pills when she “failed to meet their expectations” have been freed from jail.
Ambreen Fatima Sheikh suffered “irretrievable” brain damage when she fell unconscious ten years ago.
Asgar Sheikh was jailed for allegedly torturing his wife but has been freed[/caption]
Ambreen Fatima Sheikh, pictured before the horror, has been left in a vegetative state[/caption]
Husband Asgar Sheikh, 31, dad-in-law Khalid Sheikh, 55, and mum-in-law Shabnam Sheikh, 52, were last year jailed for a total of 23 years.
The trio were found guilty of causing or allowing a vulnerable adult to suffer serious physical harm following a trial.
But they have now been released from prison after the conviction was quashed by the Court of Appeal.
Judges found the original case at Leeds Crown Court was “riddled with evidential difficulties”.
The family’s convictions for perverting the course of justice and conspiracy to pervert the course of justice were upheld.
Sister-in-law Shagufa, 29, who was handed a suspended sentence for causing or allowing a vulnerable adult to suffer serious physical harm, also had her conviction overturned.
The court previously how Ambreen arrived in the UK in 2014 as a well-educated “happy-go-lucky” young woman.
She had been flown in from Pakistan for an arranged marriage but was targeted by her new family because she had “not lived up to expectations” as a wife, it was said.
Although the family refused to give evidence, prosecutors suggested she was subjected to a “pattern of violence” behind closed doors.
She was socially isolated and her sister, who also lived in Britain, was threatened with death by Asgar when she came to visit.
Jurors heard he failed to call an ambulance for his wife for three days after she was effectively “tortured”.
On August 1, 2015, Shagufa Sheikh eventually raised the alarm – claiming her sister-in-law “couldn’t breathe properly”.
When paramedics arrived, they found Ambreen lying unconscious on the bed.
She was rushed to hospital where tests found swelling on her brain and a severe burn to her lower back.
Medics believed this was caused by “some form of caustic substance” around five to seven days before the horror.
This had caused an injury to her ear and marks on Ambreen’s toes suggested there had been a period of “prolonged immobility.”
Nurses also noted she was “malnourished” and “unkempt” in appearance, the court heard.
Prosecutor Robert Steen Smith said she had involuntarily ingested an anti-diabetic medication that caused hypoglycemia.
This in turn caused swelling of her brain and loss of consciousness, he added.
Ambreen, who was not diabetic, had also been left incontinent before she fell unconscious and had been vomiting.
Mr Smith said it was likely she had been cleaned up and placed in her sister-in-law’s room before the ambulance arrived.
Her own soiled clothing and bedding had been dumped in a wheelie bin outside the terraced house.
At first, police believed they would be dealing with a murder probe after Ambreen was placed on a life support machine.
When the machine was switched off, she was able to breathe but has remained in a vegetative state with no change in her condition since.
Officers quizzed all five family members who lived in the home but all of them closed ranks and refused to reveal what had happened.
Husband Asgar just told them: “I love my wife so much why would I hurt her?”
Asgar and his parents were each jailed for seven years and nine months.
Mother-in-law Shabnam allegedly took part in the sadistic abuse[/caption]
Father-in-law Khalid also had his conviction overturned[/caption]
