A man who drove hundreds of miles with the body of a young Iraqi murdered in an honour killing in his car boot has been jailed for eight years.

Dana Amin, Armfield Crescent, Mitcham was found guilty at Southwark Crown Court yesterday of perverting the course of justice and preventing the lawful and decent burial of Banaz Mahmod.

Miss Mahmod, an Iraqi Kurd from Mitcham, was strangled by her father Mahmod Babakir Mahmod and uncle Ari Mahmod in January 2006 after she became involved in a relationship with an Iranian Kurd her family disapproved of.

Cousins Mohammen Saleh Ali, 31, and Omar Hussain, 35, were linked to the case and traced by Met detectives to Iraq, where they had fled just days after the murder.

They were extradited and also jailed for their part in the murder.

Wimbledon Times: Banaz Mahmod's body was found in a suitcase in Birmingham.

Banaz Mahmood was murdered in an honour killed by her father

The 20-year-old was strangled and her body stuffed in a suitcase and driven to the midlands where it was discovered in a shallow grave beneath the footings of a house in Handsworth, Birmingham Banaz came from a Mirawaldy Iraqi Kurdish family who had settled in the UK in 1998.

Before she met boyfriend Rahmat Suleimani she was in an arranged marriage which had broken down and she was awaiting a divorce.

Her relationship with Mr Suleimani was met with disapproval by her family and the pair received a number of threats leading up to her disappearance.

The court heard how Amin, 31, had been in contact with friends and family who had either ordered or carried out her murder before he then agreed to drive her body to Birmingham.

Wimbledon Times: The suitcase Banaz Mahmod was found in

The suitcase Banaz Mahmod was found in

Detective Chief Inspector Glen Lloyd, of the Met’s Homicide and Major Crime Command, said: "This has been an incredibly complex and lengthy inquiry which has spanned over seven years. We have always been absolutely determined to bring everyone involved in Banaz Mohmod’s murder to justice.

"Following the conviction of her father and uncle back in 2007 and the two cousins, Ali and Hussain, we knew that Dana Amin believed he had evaded capture.

"We were determined not to rest until each and every person responsible for this horrendous crime had been apprehended and held to account.

"There is no such thing as ‘honour’ in any killing and the men involved in Banaz’s murder are no more than cowards."


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