14 February 2024 , 23:48
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The first image of a woman mistreated while left in a vegetative state has been released as four family members were jailed for her abuse.
Ambreen Fatima Sheikh was forced to take medication and doused in a corrosive substance while left in the state by her husband and his family. The now-39-year-old had been brought to the UK following an arranged marriage, and was given the anti-diabetes drug glimepiride by Asgar Sheikh and his parents when she was 30, despite not being diabetic.
The drug induced a catastrophic brain injury, and her four abusers were jailed on Wednesday after a court heard Ms Sheikh remained in a vegetative state in hospital from which she would likely 'never recover'. It was also heard how she was doused in a caustic substance, likely cleaning fluid, and abused at the house in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, for days.
She was finally admitted to hospital in August 2015. Doctors initially believed Ms Sheikh would die, but when the ventilator was switched off, she began to breathe for herself.
The four family members were sentenced to 23 years collectively for their treatment of Ms Sheikh, as detectives told how she was "robbed of her future". Asgar Sheikh, 31, Khalid Sheikh, 55, Shabnam Sheikh, 52, and 29-year-old Shagufa Sheikh were sentenced at Leeds Crown Court, where it was also heard the victim will eventually die as a result of what happened to her.
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Asgar Sheikh, 31, was jailed for his treatment of his wife (PA)
Shabnam Sheikh, 52 (PA)All four were found guilty of causing or allowing a vulnerable adult to suffer physical harm and perverting the course of justice. Asgar, Shagufa and Shabnam Sheikh were also sentenced for a third charge of doing an act intending to pervert the course of justice.
A fifth family member, Sakalayne Sheikh, 24, was also sentenced after being found guilty of the offence of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice. Suspicions were initially raised about Ms Sheikh's mistreatment following her hospital admission on August 1, 2015, in an unconscious state with a number of physical injuries.
Staff at Huddersfield Royal Infirmary raised the alarm with police, with medics later advising that the family members' account of how she came to be injured did not check out. Ms Sheikh at the time had a number of sores on her body and a burn injury. All five were charged in October 2022.
The trial at Leeds Crown Court heard Ambreen had been fit and well up until a few weeks before her hospital admission. She tragically remains in what has been described as a ‘vegetative state’ with no prognosis of recovery.
The Sheikh family pictured arriving at Leeds crown court (Huddersfield Examiner)Asgar, Khalid and Shabnam Sheikh were each sentenced to seven years, nine months in prison. Shagufa Sheikh was sentenced to 18 months, suspended for two years, while Sakalayne Sheikh was sentenced to six months, suspended for two years.
Following Wednesday's sentencing, DCI Matthew Holdsworth of West Yorkshire Police's Homicide and Major Enquiry Team, said: “This has been an awful case in which a young, healthy woman has been catastrophically injured and robbed of her future by the very people she should have expected to protect her.
“While Ambreen still technically lives, it is tragically believed she may never regain consciousness. I am grateful that justice has at least been delivered for Ambreen today and that those responsible for her suffering have been punished for the truly wicked offences they committed.”