Jailed woman basher Jawad Qayyum says witness tampering ‘not as serious’

A Pakistani man whose savage attacks put a woman in hospital is appealing his jail sentence in an effort to avoid deportation.

Jawad Qayyum was jailed for two years after addmitting to attempting to coerce a witness into making a false statement after he violently bashed a woman.

A Pakistani man who was locked up after bashing a woman and attempting to coerce a witness into making a false statement has appealed his sentence in a bid to avoid deportation.

Jawad Qayyum, 41, fronted the Court of Appeal on January 17, aiming to discredit the prosecution case brought against him in 2024.

Cases brought to the Court of Appeal are heard by multiple judges.

Qayyum was jailed for two years after admitting he enlisted his US-based brother to coerce another woman known to his victim into submitting a “sympathetic” statement to a court on his behalf as he faced charges including assault.

The charges also centred on extremely violent and regular assaults on a woman, that also included “mental torment”.

On Friday, the Supreme Court heard Qayyum’s defence team attempt to downplay his efforts to pervert the course of justice, because the witness was not the victim of Qayyum’s violent attacks.

sQayyum was jailed for two years after admitting he enlisted his US-based brother to coerce another woman known to his victim.

The court was told the witness had heard Qayyum confess to beating a woman and had later seen marks on the victim’s body.

Qayyum’s barrister Jack O’Connor KC said there was “no evidence that he knew she was able to give that evidence”.

Justice Jack Forrest disagreed and categorised the witness as a “real, fair dinkum corroborator” of the victim’s account, denying Qayyum was oblivious to the witness’ position.

“He readily knew she was able to give that evidence,” Justice Forrest said.

“He readily knew that she was aware of both those matters — certainly the beatings — it was her observation.”

The court heard Qayyum’s brother had “constantly” called and messaged the witness over a “protracted” two week period, attempting to convince the witness to “say something about the mental health of the victim”.

Justice Karen Emerton called his actions “calculated and highly manipulative”.

“He was trying to get her to say nothing whatsoever about the beatings, about anything,” she said.

Qayyum was sentenced to spend two years behind bars for his offending, but is now appealing in an attempt to avoid deportation.

“He had tried to paint a false picture by deliberately omitting reference to the beatings.

“The target wasn’t the primary victim, but also a woman who was vulnerable and had the potential of facing broader consequences.”

Prosecution barrister John Dickie KC said there was “no secret” to what the witness’s evidence would say.

“It would be artificial to try and said what (the witness) was saying was peripheral or of no consequence,” he said.

“(Qayyum) knew her evidence was vital to the case – if her statement changed, the charges against him would have been dropped or reduced.”

In May last year, Qayyum was sentenced to serve a maximum of two years with a 12 month non-parole period.

The Court of Appeal reserved its Judgement and will return at a date yet to be determined.