Amjad Malik KC was Instructed to Defend Ian Stewart in this Complicated Murder Trial.

Amjad Malik QC was instructed to defend Ian Stewart in his murder trial, transferred from the Central Criminal Court to Huntingdon Crown Court before Mr. Justice Bryan.

The defendant now faced a second murder allegation, re-investigated immediately upon his conviction in 2017 for the murder of his then fiancé, the famous Children’s author, Helen Bailey. The Defendant received a life sentence with a minimum term of 34 years imprisonment for that previous conviction.

The Defendant’s wife of 24 years, Diane Stewart, a diagnosed epileptic, had died in 2010 in unwitnessed circumstances. Mr. Stewart called emergency services and his wife was found to be lifeless. The Coronial post-mortem findings found the cause of her death to be SUDEP (sudden unexplained death in epilepsy). The Defendant then consented to his wife’s brain being retained for research and as a result was available after his subsequent conviction for the murder of Helen Bailey.

The brain was examined by a Consultant neuro-pathologist and showed changes consistent with restriction of blood/oxygen supply to the brain of 35 minutes to an hour. The Prosecution allegation was the Defendant had asphyxiated his wife by placing a plastic bag over her head and left her to die for up to an hour before calling for an ambulance.

The case had an array of defence medical experts in the area of SUDEP and the trial lasted some four weeks. The Defendant was convicted and received a whole life order for the murder of Diane Stewart.

Amjad Malik QC was said to have conducted the defence of Mr. Stewart with great composure, skill and ensured that the jury considered the case with meticulous care.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/feb/09/ian-stewart-the-narcissistic-serial-killer-who-fooled-everyone

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-60233593

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvIx5_Vk5BM

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