Border River Kent News

A couple who killed their "Westernised" teenage daughter because they believed she brought shame on the family have been jailed for life.

Iftikhar Ahmed, 52, and his wife Farzana, 49, were told they would both serve a minimum of 25 years in prison.

A jury at Chester Crown Court earlier convicted them of the murder of their 17-year-old daughter Shafilea. Her body was found by the River Kent in Cumbria in 2004.

• UK
• Shafilea Ahmed
• River Kent

Iftikhar Ahmed and his wife, Farzana, 49 have been found guilty of murdering the 17-year-old, who was killed because they believed she had brought shame on the family.

The verdict at Chester crown court comes almost nine years after Shafilea was killed for refusing to marry a much older man.

For more on this story visit ITV Granada.

• UK
• Shafilea Ahmed
• River Kent

A jury is starting its deliberations today in the trial of a couple accused of murdering of their daughter. Iftikhar Ahmed, 52, and Farzana Ahmed, 49, of Liverpool Road, Warrington, are alleged to have suffocated 17-year-old Shafilea with a plastic bag.

Shafilea disappeared in September 2003. Her body was found on the banks of the River Kent in Cumbria in February 2004. The prosecution claims she was killed by her parents because she wanted to lead a "westernised" lifestyle. Shafilea's sister, Alesha, claimed she witnessed the murder at their home.

Mr Ahmed denies murder and said Shafilea ran away and he never saw her again. Mrs Ahmed also denies murder but told the jury she saw her husband beat her Shafilea and said she believes he killed her.

ITV Granada has more on this story.

• UK
• Cumbria
• River Kent