A mum-of-two told her young lover her husband had threatened to kill her when she said she was leaving him, a murder trial was told.

Bradford Crown Court yesterday heard Fozia Ahmed, 26, had phoned 20-year-old Mohammed Zubair Farooq at 9am on the day of her death and revealed the conversation with her husband, Khurram Bhatti.

She told Mr Farooq she would come to him at 2pm.

But later that morning, on February 29, Mrs Ahmed’s body was found in the bedroom of the marital home in Manor Drive, Cottingley , Bingley .

Prosecutor Michelle Colborne QC has alleged Bhatti, 31, lost his temper after his wife confessed to an affair and threatened to leave him with their children, and strangled and stabbed her.

It is claimed Bhatti had been violent to his wife for years and had “habitually beaten her when she was disobedient, like a slave.”

Yesterday, Mr Farooq told the jury he had come to the UK from Pakistan in October last year to study for an IT degree. He stayed with relatives at Keighley and met Mrs Ahmed, who was a second cousin.

Mr Farooq told the court the couple fell in love within two weeks of meeting. He said they exchanged text messages, he referring to her as Foziajan, meaning lover.

He said they travelled to London and other places and they became lovers.

Mr Farooq said Mrs Ahmed told him she was unhappy in her marriage and that her husband hit her. He said he told her to leave him.

He said she had gone to his flat at 1.30am on February 29 and was worried about her husband threatening to kill her. Mr Farooq said she asked him to promise to take care of her children if anything happened to her.

Questioned by Bhatti’s barrister, Ali Bajwa QC, Mr Farooq denied coming to the UK for fun, or that his relationship with Fozia was part of that. He also denied not caring who he upset or betrayed, or that he had used Fozia.

Bhatti pleads not guilty to murder. The trial continues today