Wife-beater faces legal action after cricket job lie saved him from jail
A WIFE-BEATER who avoided being jailed by claiming he was about to become a county cricketer faces legal action after his supposed new team branded him a fibber.
Mustafa Bashir admitted calling his wife a
Amateur cricketer Mustafa Bashir, 34, admitted calling his wife a “slag”, battering her with his cricket bat, making her drink bleach and ordering her to “kill herself”.
But he convinced a Manchester Crown Court judge not to jail him, claiming it would destroy his upcoming playing contract at Leicestershire County Cricket Club.
He was given an 18-month suspended jail sentence.
Bashir was given an 18-month suspended jail sentence
Leicestershire CCC are appalled that Bashir could have invented a job offer to evade a prison sentence
However, the club has now written to Bashir’s lawyers demanding he retract his “invented” job claims.
Chief executive Wasim Khan said: “Leicestershire CCC are appalled that Bashir could have invented a job offer to evade a prison sentence.
“The club are actively involved in the fight against domestic abuse, so Bashir’s claim was deeply disturbing.
The club has demanded he retract his "invented" job claims
“We have brought to the attention of the authorities that Bashir’s claim was false. The club’s legal advisers have emailed a letter to Bashir’s legal team reiterating that the club had never had any contact with Bashir.
“This has now been given to Manchester police and they and the CPS will be taking this matter forward.”
Judge Richard Mansell, QC, was slated by women MPs for saying he was “not convinced” that wife Fakhara Karim, 33, was ever “vulnerable”.
Judge Richard Mansell was slated by women MPs
She hit out at his soft sentence, adding: “I had to become brave because of the situation I was in.”
Tory MP Maria Miller, chairwoman of the Commons’ Women and Equalities Committee, has written to Attorney-General Jeremy Wright to express concern about the sentence.
She said: “The sentence does not necessarily reflect the severity of the crime that has been committed.”
Sandra Horley CBE, chief executive of domestic violence charity Refuge, said: “Judge Mansell’s comments show a shocking ignorance of the impact of domestic violence.”
Bashir, of Middleton, Greater Manchester, and Ms Karim met in their native Pakistan and married in 2013.