Murder plot accused said shooter had ‘hatred’ for victim

Under cross examination on Thursday, Amjid Ali said it didn’t occur to him to contact alleged shooter Mir Hamza Haled to find out why he tried to kill Neelam Amjid on March 31 last year.

Ali, of Aysgarth Road in Healey, said he had heard from his family that she was ‘okay’.

When questioned by prosecutor Robert Smith QC, Ali said he had forgiven Miss Amjid for having a relationship with his brother, Qadafi Ashraf, and for seeking a divorce so she could marry her new lover Waqas Saeed, whom she had met on Facebook.

Speaking through an interpreter at Leeds Crown Court, he said: “It did cause me upset.

“Obviously the divorce caused me upset because we had been married for 13 years, but I took an oath on the Koran and I forgave her.”

Ali, 42, said both his and Miss Amjid’s families were unhappy with Miss Amjid’s decision to remarry, but he had told them to leave her alone.

He added shooter Haled had ‘hatred’ for Mr Saeed.

He said Haled had called him a son of a pig - an extremely disrespectful term in Muslim culture.

Ali, and co-defendant Adnan Khalid, 25, of Fairview Avenue, Staincliffe, both deny conspiracy to commit murder.

The trial continues.