Paramedic led to ‘confusing’ scene after Mumtaz Member found dead

A paramedic who attended the scene of a killing that remains unsolved nearly a decade later has told an inquest how he walked into a scene of distress and “confusion”.

Mumtaz Member, 56, was found dead in her home in Holmfield Avenue in Stoneygate, Leicester, on 12 December 2015, with multiple blunt force injuries.

A police investigation into her death was launched at the time but no-one has been convicted. Murder charges against her two sons and one of their partner’s were dropped in 2016.

On Tuesday, an inquest heard how an emergency worker had to push through a full house of people to get to the bedroom where Mumtaz lay dead in her bed.

The inquest at Leicester Coroner’s Court, which opened on Monday, heard how Mumtaz was found by her husband with a number of severe injuries, predominantly to her face, head and neck, in a blood-splattered bedroom.

A pathologist said she had suffered a traumatic brain injury.

James Carne, an emergency care assistant for East Midlands Ambulance Service at the time, attended the house in Holmfield Avenue with a colleague.

They were informed a patient had suffered a cardiac arrest.

“It was all very confusing at the time. There were lots of people there, I was pushing through people,” he said.

Mr Carne added: “It wasn’t calm. People were upset people were shouting to ‘help her, help her’.

“There was a gentleman who was hitting himself in the face with his hands who was clearly very distressed.”

The scene was not as expected when Mr Carne entered the bedroom, the inquest heard, and he said he could not see Mumtaz.

He saw a “rumpled” bed and three females at the side of it before eventually finding Mumtaz under duvet.

“It didn’t appear normal in terms of what I would expect in a cardiac arrest. Her face didn’t appear right,” Mr Carne said.

He added Mumtaz was cold to touch.

“I don’t think many of them [the family] were aware fully of what was going on in the room either prior or during our attendance,” he said.

“They wanted us to continue [with CPR] and were questioning why we stopped and were pleading with us to continue.”

The inquest also heard from Yunus Member, the brother of Mumtaz’s husband Ibrahim, and who called 999 after she was found.

He said he had been staying at his parents’ home earlier in the week, along with other members of the family, including Mumtaz and Ibrahim, in the aftermath of his father’s death.

Yunus walked back to his home on the night of 11 December, the same night Mumtaz separately returned to her home in Holmfield Avenue, the inquest heard.

He said he was “shattered” and “must have gone straight to bed”.

The following morning his daughter-in-law “rushed” into his room and told him to go to Mumtaz’s house as “something has happened”.

He told the court his brother was crying when he arrived and described Mumtaz’s state as “unrecognisable”.

The inquest heard he touched Mumtaz to check for a pulse.

Yunus called 999 and asked for an ambulance rather than the police because he “just wanted to help her”, he said.

He added although he “sort of registered” Mumtaz was no longer alive, he could not accept it and told the call handler she had “suffered a heart attack”.

“I couldn’t sort of comprehend the blood splatters on the walls,” he said.

Yunus told the court he did not believe Mumtaz’s sons Mohammed and Shafiq, and Shafiq’s wife Fatima – who were all previously charged with her murder – were involved in her death and said they were a “very close family”.

He said they had remained part of the family after the charges were dropped.

A statement from the family gardener – who is believed by two witnesses in the inquest to be responsible for Mumtaz’s death – was read to the court.

In a statement to police on 17 December 2015 the gardener – whose whereabouts is not currently known – said he had worked for the Member family for four to five years.

He had been working at Ibrahim’s father’s house in the days after his death and on 11 December said he returned home where he stayed.

He said he worked at Ibrahim’s parents’ garden on the morning of 12 December and was informed Mumtaz had died.

He said he continued going to Ibrahim’s parents’ home the next few days.

In his statement he added: “Mumtaz was always very kind to me. She used to offer me tea and sometimes meals as well.”

He added he did not know who would want to hurt her.

The inquest continues.