Executive fired after branding his wife with an iron after she failed to make his sandwiches

12 April 2012

The £90,000-a-year executive who branded his wife with an iron after she failed to make his sandwiches has been sacked by his firm.

The decision by the LEK management consultancy comes just two weeks after Colin Read was convicted of three counts of causing bodily harm to his wife.

Read, 25, walked free from London's Southwark Crown Court with just a £2,000 fine after being found guilty, sparking outrage among women's groups.

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Baby-faced: Read with his wife Elizabeth

He stabbed Elizabeth Axe, 26, in the foot with a knife while she slept, branded her back and leg with an iron and pounded her with his fists in three separate attacks.

John Theaston, a partner in LEK, said: "Mr Read has been dismissed. This is the result of disciplinary procedures, which we could not put into place until the verdict."

Read had been suspended on full pay since his arrest last September.

The couple met four years ago while they were both students at Cambridge University. They married last summer, but within a few months they were rowing badly and Read became violent.

The baby-faced businessman resented the fact that his wife was a medical student and that he was working round the clock to keep her.

When he discovered she had failed to make his sandwiches for work his fury erupted in a series of attacks.

In a bizarre twist, Ms Axe started secretly dating her husband again when he was awaiting trial.

The relationship ended in March when she suffered two black eyes, insisting she had fallen over.

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