SHAFILEA TRIAL: Sister said she was scared of parents (From Warrington Guardian)

SHAFILEA TRIAL: Sister said she was scared of parents

4:04pm Thursday 31st May 2012 in News

THE sister of murdered teenager Shafilea Ahmed has said she was too scared of her parents to tell police the truth.

Alesha Ahmed was continuing her evidence at Chester Crown Court today, Thursday, where parents, Iftikhar and Farzana, both of Liverpool Road, deny murdering 17-year-old Shafilea.

The Great Sankey schoolgirl vanished in September 2003 and her decomposed remains were discovered in Cumbria in February 2004.

Alesha told the jury she lied to police investigating the her sister's disappearance because she was 'covering up for her parents'.

The jury were read passages of Ms Ahmed's first police interview following Shafilea's disappearance. The witness, who was aged 15 at the time, told officers that she woke up at 7am that morning and saw that Shafilea was gone and that her bag was also missing.

She went on in the interviews to say she did not think her parents had caused any harm to her sister.

Cross-examined about the interview, Tom Bayliss QC, defending Mr Ahmed, said: "You were telling the truth, weren't you?"

Ms Ahmed, now aged 23, replied: "No, I was 15-years-old and I was scared of my parents and had just witnessed a murder actually."

The case continues.