A man who stabbed his sister-in-law to death in front of her three children has been sent to Rampton top-security hospital for an indefinite period.

Bradford Crown Court heard on Monday how 27-year-old Naseer Aslam bought a sheath knife from a local sports shop before using it to kill Mahroof Bibi at her home in Ashleigh Street, Keighley.

After inflicting at least five wounds on his brother's wife as she sat on a settee, Aslam went to the police station and told an officer: "I have stabbed someone. You had better let me in."

Aslam, of Winterburn Street, Keighley, denied murder but admitted manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility.

James Spencer QC, prosecuting, said there were examples of 'inappropriate attention' being paid by Aslam towards his sister-in-law and he had been ordered not to visit her home whenever his brother was not there.

In December 1995, after his wife left him, Aslam was sent to stay with another branch of the family in London. He returned to 'a bleak situation' the following April, having no job and little to do, said Mr Spencer.

Two days before the killing there was a fire at his home and police suspected he had started it himself, although he denied that.

On April 12 he visited his sister-in-law's home on two or three occasions. At lunchtime he paid £18.99 for a sheath knife with a four-inch blade and there was some discussion in the shop about whether he would be allowed to carry it in the street.

In the early evening, when he knew his brother would be at work, Aslam went to the house again. He was told he should not be there and left briefly, before going back in and attacking his sister-in-law.

One of the blows entered the woman's forehead and came out of her cheek but the fatal blow severed an artery in her arm. Aslam then left the house and threw the knife into the garden of a house in Skipton Road before walking into the police station.

"Back at the house there was pandemonium and one of the children telephoned the police," said Mr Spencer.

David Hatton QC, for Aslam, said that by reason of his mental illness at the time Aslam's responsibility for the tragic killing was substantially reduced. That illness had its origins many years before the killing, he said.

"He found himself in a highly-charged, emotional and noisy situation," Mr Hatton added.

Sentencing him to be detained under the Mental Health Act, Judge Alastair McCallum said he was satisfied that Aslam was suffering from paranoid schizophrenia and an associated personality disorder.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.