Man who stabbed wife five times ruled insane

AN Oldham man who stabbed his wife five times then tried to take his own life, has been found innocent of attempted murder by reason of insanity.

Barik Miah (35) of Medina Grove, Coldhurst, appeared at Manchester Crown Court yesterday and a jury unanimously decided his mental-health issues left him unable to be held accountable for stabbing his wife Runa Begum in the kitchen of their home last September 2.

Miah was trying to take his own life with an overdose of tablets when his wife tried to stop him. He stabbed her four times in the chest and once in the thigh with a kitchen knife.

She suffered a collapsed lung, bleeding of the spleen, blood in the lungs and a fractured rib, but survived.

Mrs Begum ran out of the house to get help from neighbours while Miah went out of the back and tried to throw himself under two different buses in St Mary’s Way, Oldham. The second ran over his right arm and shoulder.

The judge, Justice Kenneth Parker, told the jury all the facts of the attack were agreed, and that Miah’s mental health was now in question.

The long-term epilepsy sufferer has regular seizures and in rare cases sufferers can fall into a state of dementia, hallucination, irritability or aggression.

Three days earlier Miah’s family had taken him to the Royal Oldham Hospital, saying he had become unusually talkative and that his body was shaking. Miah tried to discharge himself and tried to attack security staff when he was prevented. He had been released and returned home shortly before the attack on his wife.

Consultant neuropsychiatrist Dr Czarina Kirk said: “At the time of the attack Miah suffered a cluster of epileptic seizures. He wasn’t aware of his surroundings and actions.”

Miah will be detained in a secure hospital for treatment.