NORTHWOOD BANKER GETS LIFE SENTENCE FOR MURDERING HIS WIFE

A gambling addict who strangled his wife to death after lashing out in fear he was about to lose his job has been sentenced to life imprisonment. Manas Kapoor, 35, of Kewferry Drive, Northwood, was yesterday found guilty at Wood Green Crown Court of murdering wife Shivani on July 10, and will serve a minimum of 16 years. Prior to the murder the Morgan Stanley employee was due to face a disciplinary panel after an accounting of his cost the bank millions of dollars. The court also heard that the 35-year-old had become addicted to gambling websites, running up a debt of £8,000 which he had attempted to settle by pawning his wife’s jewellery. He also borrowed thousands of pounds from friends. On July 10 Shivani, who had one-year-old daughter Vania with Kapoor, was found unresponsive at the couple’s home on Kewferry Drive. The court heard that Kapoor had made a 999 call, claiming he’d found his wife unconscious on the bedroom floor and he thought she had fallen off a stool and hit her head. He later claimed she suffered fainting fits, though he did not tell paramedics at the scene when asked if his wife had any pre-existing medical conditions. Police officers who attended the scene noted that Kapoor had a series of small thin scratches on the right side of his face, which he claimed were caused by his daughter. He said he was in the bath when his wife “fell”. Kapoor was arrested at the scene. Shivani was taken to Hillingdon Hospital but later died from her injuries. A post-mortem examination gave the cause of death as manual compression of the neck. Investigating officer Detective Inspector Simon Pickford, of the Homicide and Major Crime Command, said: “Manas Kapoor was under a great deal of pressure, both at work and home. He was a compulsive gambler who was heavily in debt. On the day in question he was due to attend a disciplinary meeting with his employers and genuinely feared he was about to lose his job.” He added: “He admitted in police interview that he found it difficult to deal with stress and the jury, today, have agreed with the prosecution account that he killed his wife, strangling her in a fit of rage when the many stresses came to a head. Our thoughts are with Shivani’s family and her 18-month-old child, who have lost a loving daughter and mother.”