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| Shafilea Ahmed murder trial: Parents guilty of killing | Shafilea Ahmed murder trial: Parents guilty of killing |
| (40 minutes later) | |
| The parents of Shafilea Ahmed have been found guilty of her murder. | The parents of Shafilea Ahmed have been found guilty of her murder. |
| The 17-year-old went missing from her home in Warrington, Cheshire, in 2003 and was found dead on the banks of the River Kent in Cumbria six months later. | The 17-year-old went missing from her home in Warrington, Cheshire, in 2003 and was found dead on the banks of the River Kent in Cumbria six months later. |
| Iftikhar, 52, and Farzana Ahmed, 49, had denied her murder but the jury at Chester Crown Court returned guilty verdicts against them both. | Iftikhar, 52, and Farzana Ahmed, 49, had denied her murder but the jury at Chester Crown Court returned guilty verdicts against them both. |
| The couple suffocated Shafilea with a plastic bag in an apparent "honour killing". | The couple suffocated Shafilea with a plastic bag in an apparent "honour killing". |
| The prosecution claimed she was killed by her parents because she brought shame on the family. | The prosecution claimed she was killed by her parents because she brought shame on the family. |
| Shafilea's sister Alesha, now 23, told the jury her parents pushed her on to the settee in their house and she heard her mother say "just finish it here". | Shafilea's sister Alesha, now 23, told the jury her parents pushed her on to the settee in their house and she heard her mother say "just finish it here". |
| The parents then forced a plastic bag into the teenager's mouth and killed her in front of their other children. | The parents then forced a plastic bag into the teenager's mouth and killed her in front of their other children. |
| Taxi driver Mr Ahmed had claimed Shafilea ran away from home in the middle of the night and he never saw her again. | Taxi driver Mr Ahmed had claimed Shafilea ran away from home in the middle of the night and he never saw her again. |
| During the three-month trial Mrs Ahmed changed her account, claiming she saw her husband beat Shafilea on the night of the murder. | |
| She also claimed he had threatened to do the same to her and their other children if she ever asked him what happened to Shafilea. | |
| As the verdicts were delivered by the jury after two days of deliberations, Iftikhar Ahmed stood impassively. Mrs Ahmed wiped tears from her eyes with a tissue. | As the verdicts were delivered by the jury after two days of deliberations, Iftikhar Ahmed stood impassively. Mrs Ahmed wiped tears from her eyes with a tissue. |
| As Mr Ahmed was taken down to the cells, he swore at police officers. | |
| Their children Junyad, Mevish and the youngest, who cannot be named for legal reasons, all broke down in tears. | Their children Junyad, Mevish and the youngest, who cannot be named for legal reasons, all broke down in tears. |
| Gasping for air | |
| During the trial, Alesha Ahmed had told the court how her parents repeatedly attacked and abused Shafilea. | |
| She said Shafilea was torn between the allure of a Western lifestyle and their demands she wear traditional clothes and agree to an arranged marriage. | |
| Speaking about the night her sister died, she said: "You could tell she was gasping for air." | |
| Asked what happened next, she told the court: "That was it, she was gone." | |
| Alesha went on to describe how the other children ran upstairs to their bedrooms in shock and she saw her father carry Shafilea's body to the car wrapped in a blanket. | |
| The children were later told to say nothing to the authorities amid a fear that they would suffer the same fate as their sister. | |
| Alesha's story was corroborated in writings her younger sister Mevish gave to her friend Shaheen Munir in 2008. | |
| The writings emerged shortly after Alesha began giving evidence at the trial. | |
| Mevish, who supported her parents' defence, said the writings were a "fiction" which Alesha used to base her story on. | |
| Shafilea went missing on 11 September 2003 and was reported missing by a teacher a week later. | |
| Her body was discovered by workmen in February 2004 and she was identified by her dental records and jewellery. | |
| Two post-mortem examinations failed to determine how she died but a verdict of unlawful killing was recorded at her inquest in 2008. | |
| Mr Justice Roderick Evans said he would pass sentence at 14:15 BST. |