Man Jailed for Burning Ex-Wife to Death Launches Appeal

A man who was jailed for life for burning his ex wife to death has launched an appeal against his conviction. Ahmed Yazdanparast, 62, is critical of the defence he received at his trial at the high court last year. He wants the Court of Criminal Appeal in Edinburgh to set aside his conviction for murdering his former 46-year-old partner Adieh. Yazdanparast doused the hairdresser with petrol and set fire to her at her salon in Stirling in October 2013. The victim, who suffered more than 95 per cent thermal burns was brought out alive and conscious by firefighters from the premises. She told emergency service workers on her way to hospital that her former husband had carried out the attack because she had divorced him. The mum died later that day in Forth Valley Royal Hospital in Larbert, Stirlingshire, from complications from the extensive burns she sustained. He was jailed for life following proceedings in June 2014. The sentencing judge, Lady Wise,told Yazdanparast: "Your wife of more than 20 years was by all accounts a lovely person and a devoted mother to the three children you had together. "Your actions have deprived those children of the company of their mother and your twin daughters now have the responsibility of looking after your teenage son." Following conviction, Yazdanparast's two daughters Gloria and Glara, won a £450,000 legal action against their dad at the Court of Session in Edinburgh. The pair and their 13-year-old brother claimed they had suffered distress and anxiety in contemplation of their mother's suffering. The children also said that they had suffered grief and sorry and had been deprived of the society of their mother following the fatal attack.

On Wednesday, judge Lady Dorrian continued Yazdanparast's appeal to a hearing which will be heard on May 22 2015.