Sabira Alam murder trial: Accused laid trail to hide crime

Oct 21 2009 Huddersfield Daily Examiner

A MAN accused of murdering his girlfriend laid a ‘false trail’ in an attempt to cover up his crime, a jury heard yesterday.

Naveed Naeem withdrew money from a cash machine in Hull using Sabira Alam’s bank card after killing her, prosecuting barrister Rodney Jameson QC told Bradford Crown Court yesterday.

Naeem, 30, from New Street, Milnsbridge, denies murdering Miss Alam, 20, of Vernon Avenue, Greenhead.

Miss Alam’s body was found on moorland off the A640 at Buckstones on April 5.

Closing the case for the prosecution Mr Jameson told jurors Naeem had been ‘emptying’ Miss Alam’s bank account from a cash dispenser in Hull before driving to Manchester – the day after she was last seen alive on CCTV.

Mr Jameson said: “He is trying to lay a false trail to say: ‘look someone has taken money out of her account when I was in Manchester.’

“What other explanation is there to drive from Huddersfield to Hull and then drive to Manchester that day?”

Describing how Naeem’s phone had been picked up on April 2 at sites near to where Miss Alam’s body was discovered three days later, Mr Jameson said: “That’s not the route the defendant takes to Huddersfield. So what is he doing on the A640 so close to where Sabira Alam’s body is found at night?”

Mr Jameson added two bags packed with clothes, a passport and condoms had been found at Naeem’s address following his arrest.