A Poundland worker was jailed for 22 years on Wednesday after he murdered a close friend who used to share his lunchbox with him - plunging a knife into his chest in a Tesco’s car park in Slough.

Aqib Pervaiz had convinced himself that his colleague Nadeem Mohammed had started an inappropriate relationship with his wife, Reading Crown Court heard.

The 27-year-old had lured his 24-year-old pal to their regular meeting spot - an underground Tesco car park - which was on Mr Mohammed’s route into work at the Poundland store after arriving at the nearby train station from his London home.

Before meeting Mr Mohammed, Pervaiz had been caught on CCTV browsing through various knives inside the Tesco store before purchasing a 20cms knife, lying in wait for Mr Mohammed for 13 minutes before fatally stabbing him on May 8.

Pervaiz was seen to approach from behind and strike a single blow with the knife, embedding the blade almost entirely into his victim’s chest, puncturing his right lung and the ribs near to the back of his spine.

Pervaiz than had ran off through the car park as people started screaming.

Judge Heather Norton, sentencing Pervaiz, said: “Why you made the terrible decision to stab Nadeem Mohammed, only you will know.

“There is evidence to suggest that you believed, quite wrongly and without any foundation at all, that your wife had formed a relationship with Mr Mohammed. You reached that conclusion despite efforts from your wife and family to do everything they could to convince you that your suspicions were all in your mind."

Prosecuting, Alan Blake told the court Pervaiz, who lived in Wellington Street, Slough, had married his wife Saima Munira a UK national in his native Pakistan in October 2016 and he had come to the UK on a spousal visa in December 2017.

Pervaiz, who worked a part-time job at Dominos pizza, had also taken on a role at the Poundland Store on the High Street in Slough in spring 2018 after Mr Mohammed who was an acting manager at the time of his death, helped him to get the job.

Mr Blake said: “The two men formed a good relationship. At the start of the year, they enjoyed New Year’s celebrations together. At work, they spent lunchtime breaks and any free time in each other’s company."

The court heard from Afsha Afsha Mohammed, Mr Mohammed’s widow, who had lived with him in Southall and was eight months pregnant with their daughter when her husband was murdered, that he would pack extra food in his lunchbox for Pervaiz before going into work.

Mr Blake said: “Mr Pervaiz’s suspicions seemed to have been aroused by the fact his wife became aware he had started drinking alcohol on occasions with Nadeem Mohammed. She started to smell it on him from November last year. She was not pleased, as he had not previously been drinking any alcohol.

“He concluded the source of the information must be Mr Mohammed himself.”

Judge Norton sentenced Pervaiz to a life sentence with a minimum term of 22 years in jail and told him he would be on licence for the rest of his life.

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