Judge’s lenient sentence in case involving domestic violence attracts criticism
Mustafa Bashir, who walked free from court after he beat his wife with a cricket bat and made her drink bleach, could face an investigation over claims that he perverted the course of justice. Mr Bashir admitted assault occasioning actual bodily harm and has been given an 18-month prison term. But the decision by the judge, Richard Mansell QC, to suspend the sentence for two years and order Mr Bashir to instead attend a workshop entitled “building better relationships” provoked outrage from pressure groups and politicians, according to The Guardian.
Mr Bashir’s lenient sentence was partially due to the court being told that he would sign a contract with Leicestershire County Cricket Club if he was spared jail. But it is now being suggested that Mr Bashir could have misled the judge after the Leicestershire club stated that it was “bemused” by the claim and said that any suggestion that it had offered Bashir a contract was “completely false”; the club had never spoken to him or an agent, nor offered him a contract.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is considering whether to apply for a review of the sentence in light of the new information from Leicestershire.
The attorney general’s office said it would not be able to intervene in Mr Bashir’s case as it had the power only to call for a review in a “limited number of offences”. But a spokesman added: “The government is currently looking to extend the scope of the Unduly Lenient Scheme, so a wider range of sentences can be challenged.”
