India-origin man who killed wife for gay lover jailed for life in UK
London, Dec 5: An Indian-origin pharmacist was sentenced to life imprisonment by a UK court on Wednesday for murdering his wife to use a two-million pound life insurance payout to build a new life with his gay lover in Australia.
Mitesh Patel, 37, was told that he must serve a minimum term of 30 years behind bars before being considered for parole over the murder of Jessica Patel, who was found dead at the couple's home in Middlesbrough, northern England, in May.
He had denied killing his wife and claimed that she was a victim of a burglary at their home.
However, the prosecution proved that Patel staged a burglary scene after injecting his 34-year-old wife with insulin and then strangling her with a plastic supermarket shopping bag.
"You have no remorse for your actions. Any pity you have is for yourself," said Justice James Goss, during a sentencing hearing at Teesside Crown Court on Wednesday.
In a statement on behalf of Jessica's family, her grieving younger sister Divya told the court: "The one thing we hope and prayed for above anything else was that in her final moments she did not suffer".
"The cruel reality is that she did in fact suffer, she knew exactly who her killer was, and he mercilessly ignored her attempts to fight for her own life as he ended it.
"We can only imagine the fear and panic she must have felt knowing herself this was it. Thinking of that moment makes our hearts so heavy," she said.
According to court reports, she then addressed her brother-in-law directly to say that her sister would finally be free of him 'forever'.
"As will she rest in heaven, you will rot in hell," she said, adding that he could have divorced her, taken everything he wanted but did not have to take her life.
"He had no right to take this evil, cruel and malicious step," Divya said.
During the trial, it emerged that the accused had planned to claim a two-million pound (USD 2.5 million) life insurance payout and move to Sydney with lover Dr Amit Patel, described as his "soulmate".
The couple had plans to use Jessica's frozen embryos to then have a baby. Prosecutors said Mitesh's motivation for the murder was to escape his strict Hindu upbringing and flee the UK to be with his lover in Australia and start a new family.
The jury was told that his wife had been aware for six years that her husband was in love with another man and was having casual sex with men he met on the gay dating app Grindr.
The judge described Mitesh as a "selfish" man, whose lies were uncovered by police on examination of the iPhone health app, which tracks any user's steps throughout the day, on his and his wife's phones.
The jury heard the cheating husband had made internet searches dating back years, including "I need to kill my wife", "insulin overdose", "plot to kill my wife, do I need a co-conspirator?", "hiring hitman UK" and "how much methadone will kill you?".
In July 2015, he told his Sydney-based lover Amit: "Her days are marked."
On Tuesday, a jury of six men and six women took three hours of deliberation to give their guilty verdict.
Jessica was found at her home on The Avenue in Linthorpe suburb of Middlesbrough with "serious injuries" and pronounced dead at the scene on May 14.
The victim, also known as Jess, ran the local chemist's shop on Roman Road in Middlesbrough with her husband, whom she met while studying at university in Manchester.
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Criticism of PM Modi, repeated mentions of guarantees to be highlights of K’taka Budget: LoP Ashoka
Bengaluru (PTI): Leader of Opposition in the Karnataka Assembly R Ashoka on Thursday took a dig at CM Siddaramaiah ahead of the state Budget presentation, claiming that the government is expected to borrow Rs 1.15 lakh crore and is likely to impose fresh taxes on the people.
He said the Budget would have nothing new, adding that its highlights would be criticism of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and repeated mentions of the five guarantee schemes ('Shakti', 'Gruha Lakshmi', 'Gruha Jyoti, 'Yuva Nidhi' and 'Anna Bhagya').
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who also holds the Finance portfolio, is scheduled to present the 2026–27 Budget on March 6. This will be his record 17th budget.
“Siddaramaiah-led Congress government’s budget will be presented tomorrow. While Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman reduced the tax burden in the Union Budget, Siddaramaiah is known for imposing taxes on people. He imposes about four taxes a month and has already introduced 36 taxes, and is now looking for ways to impose more,” Ashoka said.
Speaking to reporters, he said the Congress had promised people before coming to power that the guarantee schemes would be implemented without imposing any burden on them.
“By the end of the chief minister’s term, the state’s total debt will probably exceed Rs 6 lakh crore. The government has already breached financial discipline. Siddaramaiah and his government are somehow managing the situation,” Ashoka claimed, adding that his borrowings as CM equal those of 12 or 13 former chief ministers combined.
Stating that the Budget should create higher revenue sources, ensure that no burden is placed on people, and take the state away from debt, the opposition leader said this could be ensured only by a “clever and intelligent finance minister.”
“Anyone can run a government by pushing the state into debt,” he said, accusing Siddaramaiah of “increasing the state’s debt and failing to meet the expectations of the people.”
Highlighting that Siddaramaiah blames the previous BJP government for everything, Ashoka said Basavaraj Bommai, the chief minister during the previous BJP government, had presented a “surplus budget,” without excessive borrowings.
“Despite having the opportunity to borrow more while staying within the parameters of financial discipline, he (Bommai) did not do so, as it would burden the people,” he said, accusing Siddaramaiah of borrowing crores of rupees every year.
“I feel that this time too, he will take a loan of Rs 1.15 lakh crore,” he claimed.
The BJP leader said he had written to the CM requesting an allocation of Rs 15,000 crore annually for the development of backward taluks, as recommended by the High Power Committee on Redressal of Regional Imbalance (HPCRRI), chaired by economist Prof M Govinda Rao.
Claiming that the government appears “inactive” due to internal rifts, Ashoka pointed to an ongoing power struggle between factions led by Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar over the CM’s post.
“Amid all this, we cannot expect anything new from this Budget. The CM will repeatedly speak about the guarantee schemes and target the central government and PM Modi. Criticising Modi and repeated mentions of the five guarantee schemes will be the highlight of this Budget. Other than that, there will be nothing new,” he added.
He also dismissed the CM's claim that the government had achieved 90 per cent of the promises made in the previous Budget. “The fact is that not even 9 per cent has been achieved. I have evidence for it,” he said.
Ashoka further alleged that the government had also failed in tax collection, achieving only 48 per cent of the target, and had released less than 40 per cent of the allocated funds to some departments.
