A WIFE murderer fleeing justice was given birthday cake and dropped off near a police station by a man who innocently gave him a bed for the night on the day of the killing, it is alleged.

Faisal Chaudhary told a jury yesterday he was the victim in the case because giving overnight shelter to Danish Irfan had landed him in court.

"I helped somebody and look where that help has brought me. They have used me and brought me into court," he said.

The father-of-two denies conspiracy to pervert the course of public justice by helping Irfan flee the country on a flight to Pakistan.

Irfan escaped on a false passport less than 36 hours after he murdered his wife, Ridda Zanab, at their home in Alford Terrace, Lidget Green, Bradford, on November 3, 2013.

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Chaudhary told Bradford Crown Court he was a driver for Gerry's Offshore, a national company that dealt with visa applications to Pakistan.

Speaking from the witness box, with the assistance of an interpreter, he said he did not know Danish Irfan existed until his friend Nouman Qureshi asked him to let one of his relatives stay the night.

Qureshi said the man's father was dying and he needed to get to Pakistan.

Chaudhary said Qureshi was employed by Gerry's Offshore in Bradford and was his senior at work.

The court heard Qureshi had been disciplined by the company over unauthorised travel documents shortly before the murder.

Chaudhary, 34, of Grantham Road, Ilford, Essex, said he was hosting a birthday party at his home when Irfan arrived at about 10pm.

He did not give his name and declined to join the party, saying he needed to go to bed and rest.

Asked by his barrister, Tim Clark: "Did he then, or at any stage, ever say to you 'I have just killed my wife'?" Chaudhary answered: "No."

He dropped Irfan off on a busy street of shops, yards from a police station, after giving him a cup of tea and a piece of birthday cake for breakfast.

Later that day, Nouman Qureshi asked him to provide the man with £1,000.

Chaudhary says he arranged for his friend, Javaid Awan, to deliver £650 to the man and later, an extra £350.

He told the jury he knew nothing about a false passport and it was never discussed.

Cross-examined by Jonathan Sharp, for the Crown, Chaudhary said: "I would have been the first person to tell the police if I had known. In all this scenario, I am the victim."

Awan, 33, of Blackburn Road, Ilford, and Muhammed Qureshi, 39, of Pembroke Avenue, Luton, Bedfordshire, also deny conspiracy to pervert the course of public justice by assisting Irfan to escape.

Nouman Qureshi, 33, of Duchywood, Heaton, Bradford, has pleaded guilty to the offence.

Irfan, 22, returned to the UK in February last year and was convicted by a jury at Bradford Crown Court of the murder of 21-year-old Ridda.

The trial continues.