A police force has referred itself to the watchdog after it was revealed in court that officers bungled welfare checks on Ambreen Fatima Sheikh and let her abuser be present during them.
A spokesperson for West Yorkshire Police told : ‘Following consideration of matters raised in court regarding prior police contact with Ambreen in 2015, a decision has been made to make a referral to the IOPC.’
Ms Sheikh, 39, was doused with chemicals, force-fed pills and left in a vegetative state by her husband’s family because they were ‘unhappy with her housework’ after she who was brought to the UK from Pakistan in 2014 for an arranged marriage.
Ms Sheikh was just 30-years-old when she was given the anti-diabetes drug glimepiride, which induced catastrophic brain injury. She was also doused in a caustic substance in the days leading up to her hospital admission on August 1, 2015.
The worried family of Ms Sheikh contacted police with concerns in July 2015.
Upon carrying out a welfare check, two West Yorkshire Police officers reported that she was fit and well.
Ambreen Fatima Sheikh (pictured) was 30 when she was given the anti-diabetes drug glimepiride, which induced catastrophic brain injury, after she was brought to the UK from Pakistan following an arranged marriage
Husband Asgar Sheikh (pictured) at Leeds Crown Court where he was found guilty of allowing his wife, Ambreen Fatima Sheikh, to suffer serious harm after she failed to meet expectations in an arranged marriage
But the judge Mrs Justice Lambert yesterday said she attached ‘little weight to that assessment’ because Ms Sheikh spoke little English and her father-in-law was present during the visit.
West Yorkshire Police has now referred itself to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) after ‘consideration of matters raised in court’ over police contact with Ambreen.
But the force said it could not comment when asked if checks for Ambreen could have been more thorough, as the referral to the IOPC has now been made.
The force previously said that it had worked in recent years to improve the safeguarding for vulnerable people.
Assistant Chief Constable Damien Miller of West Yorkshire Police, previously said: ‘West Yorkshire Police has worked hard in recent years to improve its safeguarding of vulnerable victims in domestic settings, including those from our minority communities.
‘The force has invested heavily in awareness training for police officers and staff to better spot the signs of such offending and provide enhanced victim support and the quality of investigations.
‘This has included training provided by specialist partners such as Karma Nirvana to raise awareness of honour-based abuse and forced marriage.
‘We take a victim-led approach to deal with these challenging issues which respects the views of victims and witnesses, and provides the necessary support, confidentiality and protection from harm they may need.
‘Specialist officers located in the Force’s district Safeguarding Units or Domestic Abuse Teams are responsible for ensuring the safety of those who report concerns about themselves directly or who are otherwise brought to our attention as being potential victims, ensuring that all crimes are fully investigated and prosecuted wherever possible.’
It was initially thought Ms Sheikh, now 39, would die of her injuries – but when her ventilator was turned off in hospital, she began to breathe for herself.
The court heard that she has been left unaware of herself or her environment, without motor response or response to pain, and will never recover.
Prosecutors said she only survives by being fed through a tube and will eventually die as a consequence of what happened to her, although this may not happen for many years.
Judge Lambert said she rarely left the house and never by herself. She had no independent income, no friends in the UK and could speak only a little English.
The judge said: ‘It is difficult to imagine a more serious injury, short of death.’
Brother-in-law Shakalayne Sheilkh (pictured) was handed a sentence of six months suspended for two years for allowing Ambreen Fatima Sheikh to suffer serious harm after she failed to meet expectations in an arranged marriage
Sister-in-law Shagufa Sheikh (pictured) was handed a sentence of 18 months, suspended for two years for allowing Ambreen Fatima Sheikh to suffer serious harm after she failed to meet expectations in an arranged marriage
Father-in-law Khalid Sheikh (pictured) was jailed for seven years and nine months for allowing Ambreen Fatima Sheikh to suffer serious harm after she failed to meet expectations in an arranged marriage
None of the family gave evidence in court and the judge said she could not say for sure when the abuse began
On Wednesday, Ms Sheikh’s husband, Asgar Sheikh, 31, was jailed for seven years and nine months along with his father, Khalid Sheikh, 55, and his mother, Shabnam Sheikh, 52.
Asgar Sheikh’s brother, Sakalayne Sheikh, 25, was given a six-month sentence, suspended for two years, and his sister, Shagufa Sheikh, 29, was given an 18-month sentence, also suspended for two years.
None of the family gave evidence in court and the judge said she could not say for sure when the abuse began.
The trial heard evidence that, soon after Ms Sheikh arrived in the UK, the family were not happy with her housework and chores, and Khalid Sheikh had suggested she should be sent back to Pakistan.
Concerns were raised by members of the extended family and two police officers carried out a welfare check in July but reported Ms Sheikh as being fit and well.
The judge said she attached ‘little weight to that assessment’ because Ms Sheikh spoke little English and her father-in-law was present during the visit.
She said she did not know who administered the corrosive substance, which left severe burns on Ms Sheikh’s lower back, bottom and right ear, and must have left her in considerable and lasting pain.
And she said she did not know who ‘tricked or forced’ her to take the glimepiride, which was prescribed to Shabnam Sheikh and is extremely dangerous to non-diabetics, even in small doses.
The judge decided there was a two to three-day delay between Ms Sheikh falling unconscious and the family calling an ambulance, during which she became highly dehydrated and inhaled fluids which may have exacerbated her brain injury.
Even when the family called 999, they lied about what had happened to her, the judge said.
‘You would all have been aware of her pain and distress,’ she said.
‘It’s just not realistic to conclude that you did not all know of Ambreen’s predicament and her desperate need for emergency medical care.
‘You all also knew why she was in that condition.’
The court heard that Ms Sheikh is now being looked after in a palliative care setting and will not recover but could live for decades more.
She was in good health before her collapse and there is some evidence that she was a teacher in Pakistan, the court heard.
One witness said she was ‘intelligent, bright, ambitious and happy-go-lucky’ before she moved to the UK, and the judge said she was someone who would ‘light up a room’.
Ambreen’s husband Asgar Sheikh, right, with his brother Sakalyne Sheikh in October 2023 leaving court
Ambreen’s mother-in-law Shabnam Sheikh, left, and sister-in-law Shagufa Sheikh leaving court last October
Ambreen’s father-in-law Khalid Sheikh, 55, and mother-in-law Shabnam leaving court in 2023
Shagufa, Shabnam and Asgar were also found guilty of doing an act intending to pervert the course of justice in October last year
The Sheikh family leaving court in October, 2023
The judge said Ms Sheikh’s father is now dead and her mother is in poor health in Pakistan.
She has seven siblings and one of her brothers has been over to visit her.
Asgar, Khalid, Shabnam and Shagufa Sheikh were all found guilty after a trial of allowing a vulnerable adult to suffer physical harm after a trial last year.
The offence carried a maximum sentence of ten years in prison at the time of the offence but this has since been increased by Parliament to 14 years.
Asgar, Shabnam and Shagufa Sheikh were also found guilty of doing an act intending to pervert the course of justice.
All five defendants were found guilty of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.
Previously, neighbours of the Sheikh family told the court Ambreen was so isolated they didn’t know she was there.
Diana Roach, their next door neighbour for 35 years, said ‘on occasion’ Khalid’s (Ambreen’s father-in-law) older brother and his children would visit them.
Asked if she ever saw anyone else go there, she said: ‘No, I mean I would see delivery or postmen and what not but visiting, no.’
From time to time Shagufa, ‘the daughter’, would be seen with her mother Shabnam coming home from the shops or helping with work on the house.
Then in August 2015 police broke into the property with a battering ram after Ambreen was admitted to hospital in an unconscious state.
Police spoke to neighbours and news of what was going on behind closed doors came as a shock.
‘I was shocked because I just didn’t realise that there was another person living in the house that we weren’t aware of,’ said Ms Roach.
She said she didn’t know Asgar had got married and his wife had been living at the address since November.
Another neighbour told that she believed the men in the Sheikh family worked as builders but knew little about them.
‘They don’t talk to us and they don’t having anything to do with anyone around here really,’ she said.
‘We had no idea this woman was even in the house. When we saw it on the news it was a big shock.’