London Police and Ambulance respond to an incident. Pic: Kenjonbro

A failed asylum seeker murdered his wife after she threatened a divorce that might have forced him to leave the UK, a court heard.

Farhad Sarfi, 23, an Afghan national, appeared at the Old Bailey today charged with stabbing wife Orina Morawiec, 21, multiple times in the neck and chest.

Morawiec was found dead in the flat that the couple shared in Eastdown Park, Lee, on 21 August last year after her mother reported her missing. Police also found a bloody knife in the kitchen sink, bloodstains in the bathroom and Sarfi’s discarded clothes.

Sarfi fled the scene, but was later arrested in Dover and charged two days later.

The jury heard how the couple met at Lewisham College where she studied tourism and administration. When they married in 2012, Morawiec wore a headscarf and pledged to convert to Islam.

Prosecutor Zoe Johnson QC said that the relationship disintegrated when they argued about her wearing make-up and Muslim dress and Morawiec was forced to see her friends in secret.

By the time of the murder, Morawiec had been seeking a divorce. Johnson told the jury: “If Orina had divorced the defendant he would have to leave this country or apply in his own right for leave to remain. The prosecution suggest this may be a reason why the defendant became angry with his wife and killed her.”

Sarfi had been denied asylum in the UK but after the wedding he was allowed to stay in the country as the spouse of a European national.

In a statement given to police, Sarfi blamed a Peckham gang for the murder.