Domestic abuse victim stabbed boyfriend to death after he called her a whore
A woman who suffered domestic abuse at the hands of her boyfriend has admitted stabbing him to death.
A court heard that Sophie Butler, 20, was suffering ‘battered women’s syndrome’ when she plunged a knife into Norasab Hussain, 33.
Minutes earlier he had called her a whore and left a message on her mother’s phone saying that Butler should open a brothel.
He called an ambulance for himself after being stabbed at 4am on May 30 last year.
When they arrived, paramedics were advised not to go into the property until police arrived.
Sophie will be sentenced tomorrow (Picture: NTI)
They knocked on the door at 8.30am but there was no answer. Butler was inside with Hussain’s body.
They eventually got access at 2pm on May 31 and found Hussain with a 4ins stab wound after his girlfriend leaned out of a window shouting ‘help, help, he is dead, I have killed him’.
Butler denied murder at Leicester Crown Court but during her trial she admitted manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.
Prosecutors accepted the plea after the court heard Mr Hussain had a ‘propensity to be violent towards women’.
Two psychiatrists have ruled Butler was suffering from ‘battered women’s syndrome’ after enduring repeated domestic abuse from her boyfriend.
A court heard that Norasab Hussain had a history of violence against women (Picture: NTI)
The court heard she had told friends, family, her employer and medical staff that she was ‘subject to ongoing domestic violence at the hands of Mr Hussain’.
Prosecutor John Lloyd-Jones QC said: ‘She admits unlawfully killing Mr Hussain. She acquired a knife and delivered a blow into his chest with some force.
‘She admits she is guilty of manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility, which is a partial defence to murder.
‘It applies when someone kills somebody else and they are suffering from an abnormality of mental functioning arising from a medical condition which impairs their ability to act.
‘Depression and post-traumatic stress disorder are commonly together known as ‘battered women’s syndrome’.
Hussain’s body wasn’t found until more than a day after he made a 999 call (Picture: NTI)
‘There is also strong evidence that Mr Hussain had been abusive towards former partners.
‘By his guilty pleas to criminal offences, it was clear proof he had at times a propensity to be violent towards women he was in relationships with.
‘We take the view the right thing to do was to accept from her that plea to manslaughter.
‘Regardless of his conduct, past or present, he did not deserve to die.’
The trial previously heard Butler and Mr Hussain had argued after returning home to his flat in Cobridge, Stoke-on-Trent, after a night out.
Around 30 minutes later Mr Hussain left a voicemail message on Butler’s mother’s phone calling her daughter a ‘whore’ and saying she should have opened a brothel.
The court heard Butler told police her partner had stabbed in the stomach with a knife and claimed she had reacted and stabbed him with a pair of scissors.
But prosecutor Mr Lloyd-Jones told the jury her wound was shallow and self-inflicted to ‘justify what she had done to try to shift the blame from her to Mr Hussain’.
Butler was remanded in custody until Monday tomorrow when she will be sentenced for manslaughter.
Judge Nicholas Dean QC said: ‘Mr Hussain did not deserve to die on May 30.
‘I hope his family might feel assured that he will not be forgotten in all of this.’
Speaking after the hearing, Mr Hussain’s loved-ones said they are demanding answers about what happened in his flat that night.
The grieving family added: ‘Sophie Butler hasn’t given us the details of what happened that night and we want to know what happened to him.
‘Everyone has problems in relationships but no-one deserves to be killed.’
The Independent Police Complaints Commission is still carrying out its investigation into why Mr Hussain’s body was not found for 10 hours.
But Staffordshire Police have welcomed Butler’s guilty plea.
Detective Chief Inspector Dave Giles said: ‘The guilty plea to manslaughter is a positive outcome which fully takes account of Sophie Butler’s actions in that she unlawfully killed Norasab Hussain.’
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