An investigation is underway following Aftab Alam’s death

08:42, 28 Feb 2026Updated 08:53, 28 Feb 2026

Aftab Alam(Image: GMP)

A convicted murderer who stabbed his wife to death has died while serving a life sentence at Strangeways prison.

Jealous husband Aftab Alam, who was 64 when he died earlier this month, turned up at a Greater Manchester police station carrying a holdall with the murder weapons inside and confessed, saying ‘I’ve just killed my wife’, a court was told.

Aisha Alam, his wife of almost 30 years, was attacked as she ate breakfast at their home in Levenshulme in November, 2013. She was 49 and due to move out within days.

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Alam pleaded guilty to murdering mum-of-four Aisha at their home on Mayford Road, Levenshulme.

At Manchester Crown Court in June 2014, he was jailed for life and ordered to spend a minimum of 12 years behind bars before he could apply for parole.

Alam died on February 11 while a prisoner at HMP Manchester. The Prisons and Probation Ombudsman, which investigates deaths in custody, confirmed an investigation into his death was underway. He was 53 when he was jailed.

HMP Manchester(Image: Sean Hansford | Manchester Evening News)

The Ministry of Justice, meanwhile, confirmed he died in hospital, but no further details have been released. A Prison Service spokesperson said: “HMP Manchester prisoner Aftab Alam died in hospital on 11 February. As with all deaths in custody, the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman will investigate.”

Alam was said in court to have become jealous of his wife’s career after sickness left him unable to work.

The court heard the couple’s marriage deteriorated after he suffered two brain haemorrhages and became depressed and unable to work, while Aisha grew in independence and got a job as a teaching assistant in West Didsbury.

Alam grew increasingly jealous of her ‘success and independence’, Mark Kellet, prosecuting, told court, and began following, beating and threatening to kill her. However, while she was ‘frightened’ of him, Aisha did not take his threats seriously, the court heard.

At the time of the murder the couple were effectively separated.

Aisha was about to move out of the house and into a property she had bought with her daughters when she was killed. A Home Office post mortem found she died from multiple stab wounds.

One of her daughters described her mother as ‘a wonderful person who was always smiling and happy, who loved to help and care for others’. “The pain never goes away, the empty space in our hearts could never be filled”, she added at the time.

Sentencing, Judge Robert Atherton told Alam: “Your actions that day took a life which, as all lives are, was very precious, but especially to your children.

“They have not only lost their mother but in many ways have also now lost their father and will have to live with the dreadful fact that it was you who took their mother from them.”

Details of Alam’s death have been published on the website of the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman. An investigation is said to be ‘in progress’. No further details have been released.