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| Man jailed for stabbing pregnant girlfriend in street | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| A man who tried to murder his pregnant girlfriend in a "horrifying" street attack has been jailed for 18 years. | |
| Babur Karamat Raja, 41, repeatedly stabbed 40-year-old Natalie Queiroz in Sutton Coldfield town centre. | Babur Karamat Raja, 41, repeatedly stabbed 40-year-old Natalie Queiroz in Sutton Coldfield town centre. |
| A court heard she and her child were ultimately saved by the intervention of passers-by. | A court heard she and her child were ultimately saved by the intervention of passers-by. |
| He pleaded guilty last month to attempted murder following the attack that took place in the West Midlands town on 4 March. | He pleaded guilty last month to attempted murder following the attack that took place in the West Midlands town on 4 March. |
| He also admitted a charge of attempted child destruction, possession of a knife in public and the wounding and assault of two passers-by. | He also admitted a charge of attempted child destruction, possession of a knife in public and the wounding and assault of two passers-by. |
| 'Saved' by breast implants | |
| Birmingham Crown Court heard he carried out the attack after being forced to choose between his Muslim mother's faith and the "love of his life". | |
| In mitigation, Raja's barrister said his conservative Muslim mother "literally drove him mad" in the run-up to the attack because she did not approve of the relationship. | |
| The court heard how Ms Queiroz's breast implants "were probably what saved her life" during the frenzied assault. | |
| Prosecuting barrister Benjamin Aina QC also told how had Raja plunged his knife just 2mm further into the abdomen of his helpless victim "it would have killed the (unborn) baby". | |
| The court heard the child was born unharmed and was now doing well. | |
| Jane Humphryes QC, defending, said Raja's family turmoil "tipped him over the edge" leading to a temporary mental illness or "adjustment disorder", leaving him with little memory of what he had done. | |
| She said: "His mother had not been happy he was in a relationship with a white woman, and told him he must leave her or she would not be in contact." | |
| Ms Humphryes added: "This man of impeccable character is driven literally to distraction, forced by his own mother to choose between her and his chosen partner and their unborn baby." | |
| In a victim impact statement read to Birmingham Crown Court, Ms Queiroz said: "I am destroyed, I feel deceived and betrayed. I cry every single day. | |
| She said there were 'dark days', adding: "I find it difficult not to be in constant fear." | |
| Raja apologised to his victim in a letter to the judge and to those he injured as they tried to help her. |