The Parole Board directed the release of Mohammed Mumtaz, who was convicted of murdering Naila Mumtaz.

A parole direction is not a new trial and not an acquittal. The 2012 verdicts are the judgment. He remains on licence for life, and the Prison Service said he can be recalled. The outlets do not agree on how his brother-in-law's name is spelled, or on whether Naila Mumtaz died at the house or at the hospital.

Birmingham Live reported Oct. 28, 2026, that Mohammed Tauseed Mumtaz, now 38, was released from custody last year after an independent Parole Board hearing. The same story's photo caption spelled the middle name Tauseef. The Daily Mail, published the evening of Oct. 27 and updated the morning of Oct. 28, spelled the name Mohammed Tauseef Mumtaz throughout and reported he was released last year after the Parole Board recommended his release. In statements both outlets printed, the Parole Board used the name Mohammed Mumtaz and did not print a middle name. Tauseed, Tauseef, and no middle name are three versions of one man. Neither outlet reported the calendar date of the hearing or the day he left prison. "Last year," in stories published in October 2026, is 2025. It is not a date.

Both outlets reported the conviction. The Daily Mail reported he was handed a life sentence in 2012 for killing Naila Mumtaz, 21, on July 8, 2009, at the Birmingham home they shared with his parents, and that he was ordered to serve at least 13 years. Birmingham Live reported he was then 25, that a 12-week trial ended in a conviction, and that the minimum term of 13 years was imposed at a sentencing hearing at Birmingham Crown Court in September 2012. The Daily Mail also reported the 12-week trial, that he was then 25, and that he was convicted with his parents, Zia Ul-Haq and Salma Aslam, and his brother-in-law, whom the Daily Mail spelled Hammad Hassan. Birmingham Live spelled the brother-in-law Hammad Hussan. Hassan and Hussan are not the same spelling. Birmingham Live reported Hussan received the same minimum term and that the parents were jailed for a minimum of 15 years. The Daily Mail reported Hassan, then 24, received the same 13-year minimum, and that Ul-Haq and Aslam, both 51, were each ordered to serve at least 15 years. The Daily Mail reported all four had denied murder and manslaughter and were convicted of murder. Those verdicts are the judgment. The parole decision does not reopen them.

Naila Mumtaz's death is not described the same way. Birmingham Live reported she was beaten and smothered in July 2009, that paramedics were called to the family home on Craythorne Avenue, and that she died in hospital. The Daily Mail reported paramedics found her lifeless body in a bedroom on Craythorne Avenue, Handsworth Wood, in the early hours of July 8, 2009, and that medical evidence showed she died from asphyxia and could not have caused the fatal injuries herself. Died in hospital and a lifeless body at the house are not the same account of where she died. Both outlets reported she was 21 and six months pregnant, that she had come from Pakistan in 2008 after an arranged marriage, and that she spoke little English. The Daily Mail reported the family called her a "happy, confident and beautiful" young woman. It reported relatives said, "She came to Britain to be with her husband; we entrusted our most treasured, beloved only daughter to him and his family," and that she was almost six months pregnant with an unborn son. The son is not named in either story.

The reason for the killing is what the judge said could not be pinned down. The Daily Mail reported Mumtaz claimed Naila had behaved as though she was possessed by a jinn, that she had tried to strangle herself, and that he described her death as "more like a suicide." It reported prosecutors said she had been deliberately smothered, with one or more members of the family suffocating her while the others helped restrain her. It reported Mr Justice Keith said they may have "smothered her in order to get rid of the djinn," and that he called that "a less unlikely explanation" than a theory that family members suspected Mumtaz was not the father. The Daily Mail reported the judge said it was impossible to establish exactly what had prompted the attack, and that the verdicts meant the jury was sure one or more of the four had deliberately smothered her while the others took part in restraining her. Birmingham Live reported the four believed the unborn child was possessed by evil spirits, known as "Jinns," and may have been trying to exorcise them. "Believed" and "may have been" are Birmingham Live's account. The judge's "impossible to establish" line is the Daily Mail's account of the sentencing. The Daily Mail reported Mr Justice Keith told the four, "What aggravates the case is that Naila was pregnant at the time of her death, isolated from her family in a country unfamiliar to her, and spoke little if any English." Birmingham Live reported he told Mumtaz, "You lost the woman who gave you the hope of a normal life, but the jury found you went along with what was done to Naila, and for that you must pay the price," and, "She was only 21 years old and had her life ahead of her." The Daily Mail reported the judge accepted they had not intended to kill her but said they must have realised their actions could cause really serious harm. It reported Mumtaz has a severe physical disability, that the judge urged prison authorities to house him with his father, and that after the life sentence he had to be carried out of the dock by his father. It reported Detective Inspector Simon Astle of West Midlands Police said at the time, "This was a tragic and deeply upsetting case, where a young woman had her life so horrifically ended by those she loved and trusted."

The release is a parole decision. Birmingham Live and the Daily Mail both printed a Parole Board statement that a panel directed the release of Mohammed Mumtaz following an oral hearing, and that the decisions are focused on what risk a prisoner could represent to the public if released and whether that risk is manageable in the community. The Daily Mail also printed the board's account that the panel examined the original crime, any evidence of behaviour change, and the harm to the victims, and that protecting the public is its priority. A Prison Service spokesperson told Birmingham Live, "This was an atrocious crime and our thoughts remain with the family and friends of Naila Mumtaz," and said decisions to release life-sentenced prisoners are made by the independent Parole Board after a risk assessment. The Daily Mail printed the same crime sentence from a Prison Service spokesman. Both outlets reported he is subject to probation supervision for life and can be recalled if he breaches licence conditions. The Daily Mail's verb was "recommended." The Parole Board's verb, in the statement both papers printed, was "directed." A direction to release a life prisoner is not an acquittal. The murder conviction stands. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.