Man denies pushing wife to her death at Arthur's Seat in Edinburgh

A man has denied murdering his pregnant wife by pushing her off a well-known Scottish landmark.

Kashif Anwar, 29, stands accused of murdering 31-year-old Fawziyah Javed by pushing her from Arthur's Seat in Edinburgh on 1 September 2021, months before she was due to give birth to her son.

The High Court in Edinburgh heard police and emergency services were called to the scene at about 9pm, but she died at the scene from multiple blunt-force injuries.

Anwar, from Pudsey in Leeds, appeared in the dock for the first day of his trial on Wednesday.

The court was told he struggled with his wife, causing her to fall to the ground and struck her on the head.

The jury was told the Crown case would allege that Anwar had a history of abuse towards his wife.

As early as 2010 he is said to have made threats that he would not agree to a divorce and that he would not allow her to remarry.

In March 2021, it is claimed Anwar knocked his wife unconscious in a cemetery in Pudsey. On another occasion Anwar is said to have put a pillow over his wife's face, restricting her breathing, and repeatedly punching her on her head.

The court was also told of a claim that between April 29 and May 1 2021, Anwar made threats that he would "ruin her life should she end the relationship".

The prosecution said the defendant, who appeared in court with a shaved head and wearing a blue polo-shirt, had withdrawn £12,000 from his wife's bank account and put it into his own account without her consent.

The couple checked into Edinburgh's Residence Inn by Marriott for a four-night stay on 31 August 2021.

Ms Javed died on 2 September.

As well as her murder, Anwar is charged with causing the death of the unborn child.

After the jury of 15 men and women were sworn in, trial judge Lord Beckett warned them: "From this moment until the end of the trial you must not make any outside investigations or inquiries of your own about this case, the people involved in it, the places it is said to have taken place, or any issues it raises."

The judge said the trial is expected to continue until 14 April.

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