Duo wearing giraffe masks tried to kill step-mum after she accused them of not doing house chores

Published by Robert L Senior Reporter on Tuesday 1st April 2025, at 06:30hrs

Wasif Hussain, 21, and his wife, Nabela Tabassum, 19, have been found guilty of attempted murder after a brutal attack on Hussain’s stepmother in her Kings Norton home.

The verdict was delivered at Birmingham Crown Court on Thursday, March 27, following a trial that revealed the horrifying details of the assault.

The incident occurred on the evening of January 29 of the previous year, when Hussain and Tabassum, bizarrely wearing giraffe animal masks, launched a frenzied attack on the victim in her kitchen.

The attack was captured on a home security camera, providing crucial evidence for the prosecution.

The footage showed Hussain striking his stepmother’s head with a hammer, before strangling, punching, and stabbing her.

Meanwhile, Tabassum restrained the victim, preventing her escape. The woman sustained a stab wound to her arm and defensive knife injuries, managing to survive the vicious assault by convincing the couple to allow her to go upstairs.

Once in a room, she was able to lock herself in and call emergency services.

Following the attack, Hussain and Tabassum fled Birmingham, but were apprehended by police in Bolton in the early hours of the following day.

Investigations revealed that the motive behind the attack stemmed from anger after the couple were accused of neglecting household chores and treating the family home as a hotel.

When asked to leave the home, the two launched their attack.

Detective Inspector Laura Allen, from the Public Protection unit, commented on the case, stating,

“This was a calculated and frenzied attack on a defenceless woman using weapons including a knife and hammer.

She was very lucky to have managed to get away, lock herself in a room and ring us.

The evidence we provided at court helped to convict these two of attempted murder.

They are set to spend many years behind bars when they next appear in court for sentence.”

Hussain and Tabassum had denied the charge of attempted murder, but the jury found them guilty after hearing the compelling evidence presented during the trial.

The couple are scheduled to be sentenced on May 21.