Woman 'threatened to burn and bomb' GP surgery where leader of Peterborough City Council worked

Along with her role as leader of the authority, cllr Shabina Qayyum also works as a GP – and while she was working at the Park Medical Centre on Park Road in Peterborough on July 13 this year, she was subjected to the threats from Khadija Nadeem.

Now Nadeem (40) of Reeves Way, Peterborough, has been given a suspended jail sentence after admitting making threats to kill.

Wearing a grey jumper and green scarf, she listened carefully to the case from the dock with the assistance of a Punjabi interpreter.

Paul Brown, prosecuting, told Huntingdon Magistrates’ Court that the medical centre received a phone call from the defendant.

Mr Brown said: “She made threats to Dr Qayyum. She said she was going to ‘burn and bomb’ the surgery."

Police arrested Nadeem, and in interviews with detectives, she admitted making the threats.

Mr Brown said: “When she was arrested and interviewed, she accepted she had been the caller. She said the comments were made through anger, and would never carry out the threats."

The court was told that the offences carried a sentencing range of between 26 weeks and two and a half years in custody.

Defending, Claire Thornley told the court Nadeem had entered guilty pleas at an early stage in proceedings.

She said: “The threats to Shabina Qayyum were not made in relation to her public role (as council leader). Many people wear different hats - it was not her making a verbal attack on her as an elected official.

"There are significant mental health issues that the defendant has experienced. She was in Fulbourn Hospital (a specialist NHS psychiatric hospital) for five weeks following these incidents.”

Ms Thornley said unpaid work would be beneficial for the defendant.

Along with the charge of threats to kill against Dr Qayyum, Nadeem also pleaded guilty to two other counts of making threats to kill against two other individuals, not connected to the GP surgery.

Chair Magistrate David Morris, sentencing, described the charges as ‘very serious offences.’

He imposed a six month prison sentence, suspended for 24 months – saying that it would have been an eight month sentence, had it not been for her guilty please.

She was also ordered to carry out 100 hours of unpaid work, and ordered to pay costs of £85 and a victim surcharge of £154 – a total of £239.

A restraining order was also put in place for a year, banning her from contacting Dr Qayyum, or attending the medical centre.

Mr Morris added: “The reason there is no immediate custody is because of the Sentencing Act 2026. This act means there is a presumption that when an offence is so serious that it crosses the custodial threshold, and the sentence is less than 12 months, it must be suspended unless any exception arises. There is no such exemption in this case, and we have to suspend custody.”