Man accused of killing pregnant ex-wife with crossbow in Newbury Park faces retrial after jury discharged

A man accused of shooting his heavily pregnant ex-wife dead with a crossbow in her Newbury Park home will face a retrial after the trial’s original jury was discharged for legal reasons.

Ramanodge Unmathallegadoo, 51, burst into the home of mother-of-five Sana Muhammad in Applegarth Drive on November 12 last year and fired an arrow into her stomach as she fled upstairs, the Old Bailey heard.

Mrs Muhammad, known as Devi Unmathallegadoo prior to her remarriage, suffered catastrophic internal injuries and died while her unborn son was delivered by caesarean section and miraculously survived.

Prosecutor Peter Wright QC told the jury the killing was a “deliberate and quite calculated act of revenge”.

But the defendant claimed he shot the 35-year-old by accident with a crossbow he had bought for a hunting trip in Mauritius.

He denied murder and the attempted destruction of the unborn baby.

The jury deliberated over four days before it was discharged for legal reasons by Judge Nicholas Hilliard QC.

The judge told jurors the case would be re-tried by another jury.

The date of the retrial has been set for Novembe 4 this year.