Honour killing pair jailed for life

Mahmod Mahmod, 54, was told he will serve a minimum of 20 years and his brother Ari, 51, will serve a minimum of 23 years. A third killer Mohamad Hama, 30, was told he would spend at least 17 years behind bars.

Banaz, 20, was raped and tortured before succumbing to an agonising death. Hama and three other men who have left the country, killed her during two hours of torture at her home.

Her death had been ordered by her Iraqi Kurd father and uncle after her affair with fellow Kurd Rahmat Sulemani, 29, was discovered.

Banaz asked police for help four times but was not taken seriously. She even gave officers a list of five people she suspected would harm her and Mr Sulemani.

After being taken to hospital following a previous attempt on her life, Mr Sulemani recorded her fears on his mobile phone. The film was played in court and helped convict her killers from beyond the grave.

She disappeared in January last year, and her body was found 100 miles away buried in a suitcase in a garden in Birmingham three months later.

Last month Mahmod and Ari, of Mitcham, south London, were found guilty of murder after the jury were told they considered Banaz had shamed the family honour by falling in love with the wrong man. Hama, 30, of West Norwood, south London, pleaded guilty to murder before the trial.

Prosecutor Victor Temple QC told the court Hama confessed to a friend that Banaz's ordeal lasted two hours and she was subjected to rape and other degrading sexual acts. Banaz was garrotted for five minutes but took half an hour to die as Hama stamped on her neck to "let her soul out".

Five police officers face the threat of disciplinary action as a result of the trial.