A VIOLENT thug who terrorised his pregnant wife in a year-long campaign has been jailed for just 16 weeks.

Jealous Jubel Miah, 21, put his distraught victim through ‘12 months of hell’, Burnley Magistrates’ Court heard.

During his catalogue of violence, Miah

  • stabbed her in the hand
  • scratched her tongue until it bled
  • slapped her at a family party
  • struck her with an iron weight

A leading domestic violence lawyer said the victim had been ‘completely let down’ by the judicial process.

The court heard how Miah, of Merton Street, Burnley, also kicked and punched his wife, gave her black eyes and destroyed her confidence.

Rachel Horman, head of the domestic violence division at law firm Watson Ramsbottom, said the lenient sentence would put off other victims of abuse from coming forward.

She said: “It’s an insult to the victim and people will view the punishment as a slap on the wrist.

“There has been a prolonged 12-month ordeal, so why was only one charge brought? It’s absolutely shocking and it makes me really angry.

“If this was an attack by a stranger in the street, I can guarantee it would have been a different story. Domestic violence is often under-sentenced and too much blame is given to the victims.”

The woman’s injuries were discovered by doctors when she attended hospital for a pregnancy check-up.

When she gave birth prematurely, Miah, who admitted one count of section 39 assault by battery, became enraged that a male doctor was treating his wife and demanded a female medic was sent instead.

Section 39 assaults are summary offences that can only be dealth with in a magistrates’ court, with a maximum jail term of six months.

The court was told how Miah also monitored his wife’s movements on his mobile phone, tried to stop her going to college, insisted she wear a full veil, accused her of cheating and claimed there were spies in the loft of their home.

At a family party to celebrate Eid, Miah slapped his wife’s face and pushed her up against a wall to demand why she was not smiling.

On September 17, Miah punched his wife repeatedly, rammed his fingers in her mouth, pulled her tongue and scratched it until it bled.

He kicked and struck her thigh, stabbed her in the hand with a pair of scissors and hit her on the back with a large weightlifting weight.

On another occasion, Miah gave his wife a black eye after he accused her of cheating on him, something she denied.

After the attack on September 17, the victim escaped to her mother’s house, where her injuries were noticed and police were called.

Charlotte Crane, prosecuting, said: “The defendant is not interested in showing any remorse in any way, shape or form with regards to the hell he has put this lady through over the last 12 months.”

Adnan Hanif, for Miah, said: “It's not often that I am lost for words. His actions have affected quite a number of people and I would say that quite a number of lives have, in effect, been destroyed."

Miah was given a restraining order and told to stay away from the victim.

Stephen Riley, chairman of the bench, told Miah his actions had been an ‘abuse of power’ and he had ‘degraded’ his wife.

A spokesman for the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said allegations of two earlier assault were not reported at the time and could not be prosecuted as the incidents had happened more than six months previously.

The spokesman added: “As with all comestic violence cases, the CPS policy for prosecuting cases of domestic violence was applied in this case."