HMA v Abid, Hayat, Rauf 2019

Ms Hayat and Ms Abid have had their appeal against sentence granted after their 25 year punishment part of their sentence has been reduced by one year. The co-accused were sentenced to serve 25 years in prison while the third co accused Mr Rauf was only sentenced to 24 years. The three co accused were found guilty of the murder of Ms Hayat’s husband.

The High Court confirmed that there was no basis to differentiating between the three accused. All three co accused appealed against their punishment part of their sentence was “excessive.” The trial judge after the three were found guilty at Glasgow High Court stated the attack was “sustained, relentless and merciless attack”. The murder began while Mr Hayat was lying sleeping and he sustained over 100 hits to his head. Both females were also convicted of attempting to pervert the course of justice as they attempting to destroy evidence. Mr Rauf’s appeal against sentence was refused but the two females had their sentence reduced by one tear.

The Lord Justice Clerk stated: “The most significant aspects of the present case are the planning, and the extraordinarily brutal extent of the violence perpetrated against the deceased. The first appellant was, by his own admission, the individual directly responsible for the latter. Lady Dorrian concluded finally: “We do not think there is a basis for distinguishing between the appellants on that account. Accordingly, in the case of the second and third appellants, the appeal must therefore succeed to the extent that the punishment part must be reduced to that imposed upon the first appellant.”