Bury: Woman who died from burns took overdose, inquest hears

Nosheen Akhtar, who was also known as Sarah Hussain, died in July 2021 after running out of her home in East Street, Bury, while she was on fire.

Nosheen, 31, sustained burns to her face and body after her clothes were covered in white spirit and set alight.

She died at Wythenshawe Hospital on July 24, 2021, a day after sustaining burns which covered 81 per cent of her total body area.

At an inquest into her death at Rochdale Coroners Court and presided by assistant coroner for Manchester North, Lisa Judge, the court heard that Nosheen told paramedics as they were treating her injuries that her husband, Waqas Mahmood, had set her on fire.

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The court was also told that Nosheen, who had been admitted to hospital after she attempted to take her own life in February 2021, could have set herself on fire.

North West Ambulance Service paramedic Lisa Wright gave evidence at the second day of the inquest yesterday, Tuesday.

She told court that she had not responded to the fire but had attended the couple’s address in February 2021, following reports of a person in cardiac arrest.

Upon entering the property, she discovered Nosheen had taken an overdose. 

Nosheen Akhtar (Image: Family handout)

Miss Wright said that while Mr Mahmood was out of the room, Nosheen told her she had taken the overdose as her husband had threatened to divorce her.

Miss Wright added: “She told us that the husband had said that she should kill herself and threw paracetamol at her.

“[Nosheen said] she didn’t know what else to do so she went ahead and took the overdose.”

“[Nosheen said] She was reliant on her husband for money, her husband had made her give up her council house.”

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She added that Mr Mahmood “was not very helpful or forthcoming” while she attended the scene at the house. 

During the inquest, which began on Monday, paramedics who attended the fire said Nosheen had told them that her husband had set fire to her.

Niamh Nolan, a senior paramedic with Bury accident and emergency, said that when she arrived at the scene, she found Nosheen “shouting in a foreign language,” not in pain but in “agitation and anger".

Smelling what she believed at the time to be petrol on Nosheen’s clothes and breath, Miss Nolan asked Nosheen why she smelled of petrol.

Nosheen told her: “My husband bought it.”

In her statement, which was partially read to the court, Miss Nolan recalled Nosheen telling her: “He poured it, he poured it,” in reference to the flammable substance on her clothes and then “he did it, he did it".

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Miss Nolan told the court she was then approached by a man who identified himself as Nosheen’s brother-in-law who told her that Nosheen had set fire to herself.

Miss Nolan said: “[He told me] she did it to herself, she has mental health problems and she did it to herself.”

“He was adamant that I knew that she had done it to herself.

Miss Nolan said she also assessed Mr Mahmood, who had sustained “minor” burns following the incident.

The court heard from other witnesses, including Nosheen’s sister-in-law Ifra Farooq that Mr Mahmood had picked Nosheen up and carried her, on fire, from the house onto the street.

Speaking about Mr Mahmood’s injuries, Miss Nolan said: “When I looked at his hands I don’t recall seeing any burns that I would have to treat.”

Dominic Wilson, a Rochdale A&E paramedic, told the inquest on Monday that Mr Mahmood told him that “his wife had poured white spirit on herself and set fire to herself,” before he set about attempting to extinguish the flames.

CCTV footage of the incident, which was viewed by interested parties prior to the inquest, showed Nosheen running from the house to the street, still “considerably” on fire. 

The inquest continues.

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