Father guilty over 'honour killing'

Banaz Mahmod was strangled in a so-called "honour" killing and buried in a suitcase in a back garden. Her father Mahmod Mahmod and his brother Ari Mahmod ordered the murder because they believed she had shamed the family.

Banaz told police four times that she feared they wanted to kill her, even writing a letter naming those she thought would do it - one of whom later admitted his part in the killing and two who fled the country.

On another occasion her fears were dismissed by a female police officer who thought she had made up the story to get her boyfriend's attention. She is one of a number of Metropolitan Police officers now facing an internal disciplinary investigation over the handling of the case.

Mahmod, 52, and Ari, 51, both from Mitcham, south London, were found guilty of Banaz's murder following a trial lasting nearly three months. Banaz had helped convict them from beyond the grave with a video message played to jurors in which she told how she feared she was going to die.

She recorded the footage, in which she said she was "really scared", following an earlier attempt by her father to kill her on New Year's Eve 2005. Banaz fled but later went back to her family and tried to carry on her relationship with boyfriend Rahmat Sulemani in secret. But when they were discovered and Rahmat was threatened by Ari's associates, she contacted police again.

Banaz was urged to stay at a safe house but told officers she believed she would be all right at home because her mother was there. The following day, on January 24, she disappeared. Her decomposed body was discovered in Handsworth, Birmingham, three months later.

Mohamad Hama, 30, of West Norwood, south London, an associate of Ari, has already pleaded guilty to the murder. Darbaz Maref-Rasull, 24, of Hounslow, west London, was cleared, with Ari, of conspiracy to pervert justice. Pshtewan Hama, 26, also of Hounslow, has already pleaded guilty on the same count.

Neither Mahmod nor Ari showed any emotion as the verdicts were delivered. They were both remanded in custody to be sentenced at a later date.

Rahmat shook his fist in celebration and wiped tears from his eyes as he watched the jury return with their decision.