A 35 year old succumbed to burns after pouring petrol over herself and setting it alight. Ambreen Hussain only meant to scare her husband after she caught him having an affair. However, here plan backfired after flames took over at her semi-detached home on Middlesbrough on November 13.
Teesside assistant coroner Jo Wharton recorded a misadventure verdict after saying she couldn't be satisfied Hussain intended to take her own life. Footage from the house's CCTV cameras showed the mum-of-two dousing herself in petrol, used for a child's scooter, and standing in the back yard with a white, lit piece of paper. While she wasn't seen applying the paper to her body, she did erupt into flames. Mobeen, her husband of 15 years, frantically tried to put down the fire, throwing a pan of water over her and attempting to pat her down with his bare hands.
However, despite his efforts and help from neighbours in the front garden, she died in Newcastle Royal Victoria Infirmary on November 17. A post mortem revealed her cause of death as multiple organ failure due to burns, The burns affected more than 90 per cent of her body.
Acting Detective Inspector Jeremy Commons of Cleveland Police released a statement saying CCTV footage captured Hussain coming to his wife's aid, wrapping his arms around her in an attempt to put the flames out. He then took her out of the front door, Hussain still walking, and neighbours tried to help, wrapping her in cling film. Commons said there was "no indication that his wife was going to do what she did". While Hussain attended the inquest, his statement was read out by a coroner's officer.
He read that problems within their marriage erupted six months before the incident when Ambreen found out about his affair. On November 13, they argued, she went into the kitchen. He saw her "pouring something over herself" and then she "instantly set on fire". Hussain, who is currently being treated for his hand injuries, said, "It was all just a blur. I was trying to put the fire out with my own hands. I do not think she meant to set herself on fire, I think she was just trying to scare me."
The coroner informed the "much-loved wife, mother and daughter" had been "angry" due to the argument with her husband. "It was petrol that Ambreen poured over herself in the back garden. She then went into the kitchen and came back, when she had in her hand a white piece of paper, alight. She poured more petrol over herself and suddenly became engulfed in flames."
The coroner referred to ADI Commons' statement that it didn't look like the flames had made physical contact with Ambreen's body, she said that to record a suicide verdict, he had to be satisfied the victim took her own life and intended to do so. "Her death was attributed to an accident that occurred due to a risk that was taken voluntarily," she said and recorded a misadventure verdict.
