A man accused of attempting to murder his wife has admitted driving 175 miles before donning a mask to enter her home while she was sleeping, hitting her with a stick and holding a pillow against her face.

Altaf Mahmood admits assaulting his wife but denies attempted murder.

He is standing trial at Teesside Crown Court following the attack on June 27 last year.

The 60-year-old, from Coventry, was giving evidence today.

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The court has previously heard that his wife Yasmin Shahid was left for dead after being attacked at her home in North Ormesby, Middlesbrough.

She suffered several blows to her head and was left bleeding on the floor, the court heard on Monday.

Today, Mahmood, of Lythalls Lane, told jurors he had travelled to her home to try and scare her.

Mahmood told jurors he had told his wife that he was scared she would face difficulties if she lived alone in Middlesbrough.

Prior to the incident on June 27 last year, he had also put a security camera in her bedroom, he said,  to see if she was ok and if “there was a problem”.

When asked how he was going to scare her, he replied: “I had a mask on my face and there was a stick in my hand. It was just to show her I will scare her.”

He held a pillow over her face because she was crying out, he said. 

He said he tried to cover her mouth with his hand but she started biting it. He added: ”She started biting - it was very painful. I told her to stop. She didn’t listen to me. Then I said I will hit you with a stick.

“After a while I hit her once. Then I gave her a warning twice, three times. But she didn’t listen then I hit her.”

When asked whether he intended to cause her serious injury, he replied: “No”.

He accepted he had used too much force, adding: “I used too much force and I feel ashamed of it. And I am sorry.”

Following the attack, Mahmood said he had got his wife water and ibuprofen and cleaned her wound using a wet towel.

He said he told her an ambulance would come in two hours, by which time he would be in Coventry and left her home.

When questioned about whether he was thinking of Yasmin or himself at that point, he said: “I was thinking about her. She was bleeding and myself as well because there might be a case.”

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He also admitted sending a message to son-in-law Arsal Mahmood in Punjabi, which has been translated as saying: “ I got a message and you got a message as well that some boys came. They beat your mother up and took money from her. Call an ambulance as I don’t have a phone.”

In court, he agreed the contents of the message was a lie.

Earlier in the day, the court heard evidence  from Arsal.

Jurors were played a phone conversation he had with a 999 operator.

Arsal was not in Teesside at the time of the attack but Mahmood called him from a petrol station at Sadberge on the A66, telling him to call an ambulance for his mother as he did not have a phone.  

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