UK

Trial told woman chased former husband and hit him with frying pan

 Dalya Saeed (34) has admitted stabbing her former husband but claimed to have been defending herself
 Dalya Saeed (34) has admitted stabbing her former husband but claimed to have been defending herself  Dalya Saeed (34) has admitted stabbing her former husband but claimed to have been defending herself

A WOMAN accused of stabbing her ex-husband after sex, chased him into the street before battering him with a heavy frying pan, a court has heard.

Dalya Saeed, who denies attempted murder, was described by a witness as pursuing badly wounded Bilal Mohammed, who was wearing only his boxer shorts, as he screamed in pain and shouted for help.

Hannah Johnson, who lives in a flat opposite Saeed, told Birmingham Crown Court how she was woken at 3am on October 20 last year, to sounds of a male voice "screaming".

Ms Johnson said she put on her glasses and looked out of her first-floor bedroom window to see "a man being chased by a woman, running from their home opposite".

She claimed to have then seen the woman hit the man with a frying pan three times as he was "bent double", clutching what appeared to be his wounded abdomen, and shouting "help me".

Later, the woman swung a "a long kitchen knife" at the man in the street but did not make contact.

On the second day of the trial, another witness who said he was woken by sounds of a row in Forest Road, Moseley, Birmingham, claimed to have seen a woman attacking a man with a shoe.

Giving evidence on the first day of the prosecution's case on Tuesday, Mr Mohammed (31) told the court how she stabbed him in the stomach after having sex at the house.

He also said that she had pulled on his intestines, and pulled a part of his bowel off.

Saeed (34) has admitted stabbing her former husband but claimed to have been defending herself after Mr Mohammed raped her and attacked her with a machete.

In court today, Ms Johnson described the scene right outside her window.

She said: "She had a frying pan, and she was chasing him and he was screaming 'help me, please, somebody, help me'.

"He was groaning and moaning, communicating sounds of real pain, anguish and distress, and also holding his side."

She said the man ran across the road and stopped by her garden wall, where the woman "proceeded to hit him with the frying pan a few times".

Ms Johnson added: "He was dodging her, trying to defend himself, still crying out in pain.

"The whole thing happened very quickly."

Adam Western, the Crown's QC, asked if the man attempted to retaliate, with Ms Johnson replying: "No, he was just trying to get away from her."

A short time later, Ms Johnson said the woman went back to the house across the street and this time "she had a knife".

She added: "It looked like a long kitchen knife - something you see in most kitchens, and the blade was long, but not serrated."

Ms Johnson described seeing the "silver" of the blade reflecting the street lights and said the woman then "shuffled" back across to the man where she "swung for him".

The man then looked up and saw Ms Johnson at the window, running through into her block of flats where she heard him lock the communal door behind him.

Later, she described hearing him ringing all her neighbours' doorbells, before the police arrived to find the woman standing by the house across the street.

She said: "The police came and had torches, and shone the light on her and I was really shocked because she had loads of blood all over her."

Patrick Upward, cross-examining, asked if she recalled in her original statement to police describing the woman as appearing to be in a "distressed" state.

She replied: "It's what I said at the time."

Ali Hatami, who lives opposite, said he heard a male voice saying "help me", and claimed he looked out to see a man wearing shorts being hit by a woman wielding a shoe.

He said: "She was angry, she was saying something but I couldn't hear her, but the man was shouting, asking for help."

Mr Hatami added: "They were really slow, almost like they were a bit tired - both of them.

"It was like slow motion, like you see in a movie."

The trial continues.