A TRAINEE teacher who taught at two of the region's schools has been found guilty of murdering his sister-in-law.

Mohammed Sayid, 50, strangled 29-year-old mum-of-three Soabia Sayid at the home they shared in Hycliffe Gardens, Chigwell, in April last year.

He was given a life sentence, with a minimum of 14 years imprisonment.

During the case, Chelmsford Crown Court heard how Sayid had confessed to the murder at least three times to police in the hours following Mrs Sayid's death.

He told officers that he attacked Mrs Sayid after she called him "stupid" for knocking her as he opened a kitchen door.

Sayid then snapped, slapping Mrs Sayid before strangling her to death.

Her son was upstairs playing on a computer at the time, while her other two children were being brought home from nursery school by their grandmother, who also lived at the house.

Mrs Sayid's husband, who works for the Ministry of Defence, was away on business in Somerset at the time.

Many members of the Sayid family, who live in Bangladesh, only found out about their relative's death when they read about it on this website.

FAILURES IN TEACHING CAREER LEFT SAYID 'UPSET'

The court heard how Sayid had been left upset and bitter due to his failure to get employment as a teacher, despite being a highly qualified maths graduate who was doing a PGCE training course.

Sayid managed to get two work placements at schools in the region, but the second ended badly after an unqualified member of staff was assigned to mentor him.

The school, an unnamed secondary in the Epping area, was rapped for breaking regulations, while Sayid was told off for not reporting the situation sooner.

Ever since he was repeatedly rejected for other placements.

Sayid's defence argued that the stress caused by the rejections caused him to suffer from a temporary mental illness, and called for the murder charge to be thrown out on the grounds of diminished responsibility.

But the prosecution ridiculed that argument, saying there was no evidence that Sayid was suffering from mental health difficulties.

POLICE 'PERPLEXED' WHY HE KILLED

Essex Police's senior investigating officer in the case, Det Supt Liam Osborne, issued the following statement: “The jury may have returned a guilty verdict, but we, like Soabia’s family, remain perplexed as to why her brother-in-law reacted in such a way and killed her.

"Mohammed Akhtar Sayid lost his temper after she had called him stupid, but has said nothing since. We have certainly not found any cultural reason for Soabia’s murder.

"During our meetings and communication with her relatives, we have found a family who led a peaceful life and without conflict.

"Since that fateful day last April, their individual lives, especially that of her husband and their three young children, have been turned upside down.

"Anwar kissed his wife goodbye on the Sunday night before travelling to Somerset on business, but then returned home the following day to find his life devastated.

"He has lost his wife and his brother from this death. Today signals the end of the police investigation, but there remain many uncertainties for Soabia’s family, many of whom live in Bangladesh, to comprehend.”