A secret love tryst in a snowstorm ended in tragedy when a cheating husband froze to death as he and his mistress cuddled together in a car, an inquest heard today.
The 29-year-old died from hypothermia as temperatures plunged to minus 10 degrees Celsius as the couple sheltered in a garage in Luton, Bedfordshire.
Syed Hussain was secretly dating a girlfriend after being unhappy in a forced marriage arranged by his family.
A coroner heard that Syed died during the big freeze in December when he and his mistress, Shabana Akhtar, had a secret rendezvous just before Christmas.
He and his lover spent the freezing cold evening in his garage, away from the prying eyes of his family who objected to the relationship.
However the couple, who had been seeing each other for three years behind the back of his wife in Pakistan, fell asleep in his Vauxhall Astra car whilst temperatures plummeted to below minus 10 degrees during the night of December 19.
Coroner David Morris was told Mr Hussain tragically did not go to work that evening because of concerns for his car in the heavy snow.
Miss Akhtar told the inquest in Dunstable, Bedfordshire, how she awoke at around 3am to find Mr Hussain, who she nicknamed Shak, slumped next to the car in an ‘ice cold’ condition.
‘I took a few minutes to gather my thoughts. It was cold, the car's heater was off. I turned the key but the car wouldn't start.
‘It struck me as odd that he (Syed) had left me there alone. I rang his mobile phone but it vibrated in the driver's seat of the car.
‘The car was parked very close to the wall on the passenger side, so I shuffled across to the driver's seat and opened the door.
‘I put my left foot out and immediately knew my foot was on something which was not the floor. I used my mobile phone light to look out of the car.
‘He was lying on his stomach and it looked like he was asleep. I stooped over him and called his name.
‘He was as cold as ice and had no pulse.’ She rang the emergency services who had to break through the garage's doors to gain entry.
Mr Hussain, who worked as a CCTV operator at a Peugeot dealership in Hatfield, Hertfordshire, was pronounced dead at 5am by paramedics.
Miss Akhtar said: ‘I had been in a relationship with Shak for three years. He got married about a year ago and his family were not happy about our relationship.
‘We conducted the relationship in secret. His wife is in Pakistan but he was never happy with the marriage, it was a forced marriage.
‘I saw him every other day. It was a sexual relationship but it wasn't frequent.
‘We didn't go to the garage to have sex and we had never had sex in his car.
‘On the night he said he wasn't going to work that night as planned because he was concerned about his car in the heavy snow.
‘So we arranged to meet at about 7.30pm. I waited in a subway to meet Shak. We had not planned to spend the night with each other that night.
‘It was normally 30 minutes as and when we could meet, due to the nature of our relationship.
‘We had been in the car with the heater on. We were both in a good mood and got on really well and we were flirting with each other.
‘I fell asleep at about midnight.’ A post mortem examination found Mr Hussain, of Luton, Bedfordshire, had collapsed due to hypothermia.
In recording a verdict of death by misadventure, Mr Morris said: ‘The only verdict I can record is a natural event from excessive cold and the circumstances would probably merit a verdict of misadventure.
‘He certainly didn't set out to cause himself any harm and it was tragically the weather conditions and the place he chose to spend the evening which resulted in the disastrous conclusion.’
The 29-year-old died from hypothermia as temperatures plunged to minus 10 degrees Celsius as the couple sheltered in a garage in Luton, Bedfordshire.
Syed Hussain was secretly dating a girlfriend after being unhappy in a forced marriage arranged by his family.
A coroner heard that Syed died during the big freeze in December when he and his mistress, Shabana Akhtar, had a secret rendezvous just before Christmas.
Syed Hussain died from hypothermia as temperatures plunged to minus 10 degrees Celsius before Christmas (stock picture of snowstorm)
However the couple, who had been seeing each other for three years behind the back of his wife in Pakistan, fell asleep in his Vauxhall Astra car whilst temperatures plummeted to below minus 10 degrees during the night of December 19.
Coroner David Morris was told Mr Hussain tragically did not go to work that evening because of concerns for his car in the heavy snow.
Miss Akhtar told the inquest in Dunstable, Bedfordshire, how she awoke at around 3am to find Mr Hussain, who she nicknamed Shak, slumped next to the car in an ‘ice cold’ condition.
‘I took a few minutes to gather my thoughts. It was cold, the car's heater was off. I turned the key but the car wouldn't start.
‘It struck me as odd that he (Syed) had left me there alone. I rang his mobile phone but it vibrated in the driver's seat of the car.
‘The car was parked very close to the wall on the passenger side, so I shuffled across to the driver's seat and opened the door.
‘I put my left foot out and immediately knew my foot was on something which was not the floor. I used my mobile phone light to look out of the car.
‘He was lying on his stomach and it looked like he was asleep. I stooped over him and called his name.
‘He was as cold as ice and had no pulse.’ She rang the emergency services who had to break through the garage's doors to gain entry.
Mr Hussain, who worked as a CCTV operator at a Peugeot dealership in Hatfield, Hertfordshire, was pronounced dead at 5am by paramedics.
Miss Akhtar said: ‘I had been in a relationship with Shak for three years. He got married about a year ago and his family were not happy about our relationship.
‘We conducted the relationship in secret. His wife is in Pakistan but he was never happy with the marriage, it was a forced marriage.
‘I saw him every other day. It was a sexual relationship but it wasn't frequent.
‘We didn't go to the garage to have sex and we had never had sex in his car.
‘On the night he said he wasn't going to work that night as planned because he was concerned about his car in the heavy snow.
‘So we arranged to meet at about 7.30pm. I waited in a subway to meet Shak. We had not planned to spend the night with each other that night.
‘It was normally 30 minutes as and when we could meet, due to the nature of our relationship.
‘We had been in the car with the heater on. We were both in a good mood and got on really well and we were flirting with each other.
‘I fell asleep at about midnight.’ A post mortem examination found Mr Hussain, of Luton, Bedfordshire, had collapsed due to hypothermia.
In recording a verdict of death by misadventure, Mr Morris said: ‘The only verdict I can record is a natural event from excessive cold and the circumstances would probably merit a verdict of misadventure.
‘He certainly didn't set out to cause himself any harm and it was tragically the weather conditions and the place he chose to spend the evening which resulted in the disastrous conclusion.’
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