Man claimed woman fell after selfie attempt went wrong, murder trial told

Kashif Anwar, 29, is accused of murdering his pregnant wife Fawziyah Javed, 31, by pushing her off of Arthur’s Seat in Edinburgh.

Kashif Anwar denies pushing his wife from Arthur’s Seat (David Davidson/Alamy/PA)

A firefighter sent to help rescue an injured pregnant woman from Edinburgh’s Arthur’s Seat was told by a man she slipped as he bumped into her trying to get a selfie, a murder trial has been told.

Kashif Anwar, 29, is accused of murdering Fawziyah Javed, 31, in September 2021 by pushing her from the hill, causing her multiple blunt force injuries and ultimately her death and that of her unborn child.

Anwar, from Leeds, denies all the charges against him, including one of acting in a threatening and abusive way towards his wife at a hotel in Edinburgh the day before the alleged murder.

Firefighter Sean Stratford, who gave evidence to the High Court in Edinburgh on Monday, was one of the emergency responders dispatched to the scene just after 9pm.

He said that he stood up to take a selfie, he slipped and bumped her and she had fallen

Sean Stafford, firefighter

He told the trial that rescue crews could not find Ms Javed when they arrived but a man approached them to assist and pointed out the area.

The firefighter said he could not remember if the man identified himself as the injured woman’s husband or not.

Mr Stratford told the court: “He said that he stood up to take a selfie, he slipped and bumped her and she had fallen.”

“She was not in a very good state at all,” the firefighter said, and told the court she had been slipping in and out of consciousness on the hillside until emergency responders had to start resuscitation.

Mr Stratford, who is in his 13th year working at the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, said the man seemed to be “calm” as he spoke with him at the scene.

Ian Duguid KC, Anwar’s defence, played a 999 recording of his client to court in which he told ambulance call handlers of the incident and could be heard shouting to people who had managed to reach Ms Javed.

But Mr Stratford said he the man who had spoke to him did not sound the same way.

Questioned by advocate depute Alex Prentice if there was any reference to a selfie being taken in the call played to court, Mr Stratford said there was not.

On Monday, the fourth day of the trial, the court also heard from Claire Pentony, 33, who had been on the hill at the time of the alleged incident.

She told Mr Prentice: “I heard what sounded like rocks falling and a woman scream and say help at the same time.

“I know the area fairly well, I presumed somebody who didn’t had perhaps fallen or had an accident.”

She said she shouted she would get help, and phoned 999.

She told the court a few minutes after the cry for help, she heard a name being shouted.

Earlier on Monday, Nicola Lilly, 44, gave evidence about an incident in Pudsey, Leeds, on August 26 2021.

Appearing remotely from the West Yorkshire city, she and the jury were shown security camera footage of two people in which it appeared as if a man was blocking the path of Ms Javed.

Ms Lilly told the trial: “I just knew something wasn’t right. She was just trying to get away from him and (he) was being, sort of, aggressive towards her.”

The witness told the trial she saw the alleged murder victim being “pulled about”, and that she had become concerned for her.

She later found Ms Javed speaking to another woman, and Ms Lilly gave Ms Javed her telephone number.

The court was told that Ms Javed appeared “very upset and frightened”, and identified the man to Ms Lilly as her husband.

Ms Lilly said a car came past and Ms Javed said: “It’s my father-in-law.”

The witness continued: “She got really scared, then she said, ‘Please tell them what he’s just been like with me, they won’t believe me’.”

Ms Javed eventually got into the car, the court was told, and Ms Lilly decided to follow the vehicle which went to Galloway Lane, Pudsey, where Ms Javed lived.

The trial, before Lord Beckett, continues.