Husband guilty of murdering police wife

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The cheating husband of special constable Nisha Patel-Nasri was found guilty today of organising her murder.

Fadi Nasri, 34, had his wife stabbed at their home in Wembley, north London, in May 2006 while he went out to play snooker.

The limousine boss wanted her dead to pay off debts of more than £100,000, using a £350,000 life insurance policy, and because he was having an affair.

Michael Worsley QC, prosecuting, told the Old Bailey that Nasri and his wife were "openly affectionate to each other, on the face of things".

"But she confided to a close friend that she was considering divorcing Nasri.

"Unknown to all those people who have described them as the happiest people they'd ever seen, Nasri was leading a double life."

Nasri was regularly visiting prostitutes and began a "passionate" affair with one of them, a Lithuanian called Laura Mockiene.

On the night of the murder he arranged for his wife to be at home on her own, where she bled to death after being stabbed in the upper groin with her own 13-inch kitchen knife.

The blade penetrated an artery and left her spilling pools of blood across her driveway as she cried: "He's following me."

Hundreds later attended her funeral to pay their respects to the "bubbly and energetic" hard-working hairdresser, who was 29 when she died.

Afterwards Nasri played the part of the grieving husband and publicly appealed for information about his wife's death.

But within weeks he was secretly visiting his mistress again and he later moved into the flat he was already renting for her at Alderman Court, Barnet, and sold his marital home for £410,000.

Detective Chief Inspector Nick Scola, who led the investigation, described Nasri's actions as "the final betrayal".

"Nisha was an innocent and loving wife who was murdered so that her unfaithful and selfish husband could lead a luxury lifestyle with his younger mistress," he added.

Drug dealer Rodger Leslie, 38, of Chesterfield Flats, Bells Hill, Barnet, and Jason Jones, 36, of Hathaway Crescent, Manor Park, east London were found guilty of murder following a three-month trial.

Driver Tony Emmanuel, 42, of Clements Road, East Ham, east London, was cleared.

Leslie shook his head and muttered angrily as the verdicts were returned.

He, Nasri and Jones were each found guilty by a 10-2 majority following more than 26 hours of deliberations.

The victim's brother Katen Patel, was in court as the verdicts were returned.

Mr Scola said outside court: "We are extremely pleased with today's verdict.

He said the killers had "lied during both the investigation and the trial, to cover up that between them they plotted to enter Nisha's home and kill her out of greed".

"The fact that her husband instigated the plan to free himself of his debts and be with his girlfriend is the final betrayal," he added.

"Nisha was a hard-working and well-liked person whose life revolved around her family work and commitment to the community as a special constable. For her life to be ended in this way is a tragedy."

When Mrs Patel-Nasri was killed in May 2006, detectives first thought she had gone outside to investigate a disturbance.

But following months of painstaking investigation it became clear that her husband stood to benefit from her death and had been co-ordinating events with her killers on the night she died.