Sabah Khan, 27, pleads guilty at Old Bailey to fatal stabbing of Saima Khan, 34, in an attack last year. Sabah could face life imprisonment after pleading guilty to stabbing her sister to death at the family home in Luton. Sabah Khan, a care worker, is understood to have stabbed her sister in the neck and severed her hand in the attack on 23 May 2016.
Sarah Khan
The rest of the family were at an aunt’s funeral at the local mosque, while the victim’s four children slept upstairs. Khan, 27, was due to face trial for the murder of 34-year-old Saima Khan. She had denied the charge, and it was initially suspected that the murder had been perpetrated by a burglar. However, she confessed and changed her plea to guilty at a brief hearing at the Old Bailey on Tuesday. The facts of the case were not disclosed due to the guilty plea, and she was remanded into custody until sentencing on Thursday.
One neighbour, who did not want to be named, was reported to have said at the time: "The first I knew that something was wrong was when I heard Saima’s mother and her aunties screaming in the street. They had been to a funeral at Luton’s central mosque and came back before the men to see her lying in the hallway just inside the front door in a pool of blood."
Saima Khan was also a care worker, described by an ex-councillor and neighbour, Khatija Malik, as "a very quiet lady". She previously lived in Holland but moved to England to live with her sister, their parents, her children and her husband.
Saima Khan
Saima Khan’s husband, Hafeez Rehman – a taxi driver, said previously that the murder had torn the family’s hearts apart. "This was a junction in our lives where we intended to watch our children grow, to love them and spend quality time as a family and make memories," he said. "We have been left with a gap in our lives and we can only pray that she is resting in peace. My family and I would like to thank you all for the condolences messages, and support that we have received from family, friends and the local community."
DCI Adam Gallop of Bedfordshire police said: "This is any family’s worst nightmare. It is beyond comprehension for the family to hear that one daughter has brutally murdered another. It has been a horrendous ordeal for them and we are pleased that we have received the guilty plea today. We continue to support the family; I'm not sure there can ever really be closure, but what I do hope is that after sentencing they can hear what happened that night and start to move forward."