A ‘devoted’ father who murdered his young wife after she took a lover and threatened to leave him was jailed for life by a judge at Bradford Crown Court .

Khurram Bhatti, 32, must spend a minimum of 11 years behind bars before he can be considered for release, the trial judge, Mr Justice Lindblom, ruled.

Bhatti had admitted the manslaughter of Fozia Ahmed, 26, but the jury convicted him of murder yesterday after rejecting his defence of loss of self-control.

Bhatti stabbed Mrs Ahmed, 26, with a kitchen knife and strangled her with a computer cable as they argued at the family home in Manor Drive, Cottingley , Bingley , on the morning of February 29.

During the trial, the jury was told of allegations of domestic violence Mrs Ahmed had made against her husband. He was on bail accused of assaulting her at the time of the murder.

Bhatti told of the extreme pressure he was under because both the couple’s young children had serious health problems.

That triggered financial worries and, by February, he knew his wife was having an affair with Mohammed Zubair Farooq, a student from Pakistan.

Bhatti sat in the dock with head bowed and hands clasped after the jury’s verdict.

Mr Justice Lindblom told him: “On any view, this is a tragic case. You have killed your wife, two young children have lost their mother and, very probably, you will not see your children again.”

Bhatti was upstairs deleting records of conversations he taped between Mrs Ahmed and her lover from his laptop when, he told the jury, his wife came upstairs with a knife.

He said she threatened to take the children away, and even to kill them.

Bhatti said he could not recall killing his wife but came round on the bedroom floor next to her lifeless body.

The judge said he accepted that Bhatti was devoted to his children. He was an intelligent and industrious man, successful in his IT career.

The court heard that by the end of last year he was in emotional turmoil. He and his wife were under strain, travelling to and from hospital every day to visit their sick baby Bhatti was in a desperate frame of mind, he had learned of his wife’s infidelity and their relationship was disintegrating.

After the case, senior investigating officer, Detective Chief Inspector Simon Atkinson said: “We welcome the fact that justice has now been achieved for Fozia while, of course, recognising that this remains a tragic case. Bhatti's necessary conviction for her death now means their children will grow up without either parent and our sympathies remain with them and their wider families.”

Mr Justice Lindblom ordered that the 154 days Bhatti has already spent remanded in custody until the conclusion of the trial should be deducted from his sentence.