Uncle who ordered honour killing of his niece, 20, loses legal fight over ITV programmes he says made him look bad

Daily Mail​

2 days ago

An uncle who ordered the honour killing of his niece, 20, has lost his legal fight over ITV programmes about it which he said made him look bad.
Ari Mahmod, 69, was jailed for life in 2007 for murdering Banaz Mahmod at the family home in London in January 2006.
Her body was stuffed in a suitcase and taken to Birmingham where it was buried in the back garden of an abandoned house - and found in April 2006.
The uncle ordered three others to kill her, prosecutors said at the trial, and they were also convicted.
Two ITV programmes - a 2012 documentary and a 2020 drama - about the young woman's murder and rape by her three killers have since been released.
Mahmod sued ITV for £400,000 in damages in October 2023 saying the programmes were defamatory as they implied he was involved in the rape, which he denied.
He later even went as far as to say, representing himself at a hearing in May, there was no evidence she had been raped.
But a judge has now ruled in ITV's favour, finding today that Mahmod's High Court claims had 'no basis' and 'no realistic prospect of success'.
Two ITV programmes - a 2012 documentary and a 2020 drama (pictured) - about the young woman's murder and rape by her three killers have since been released
It came after the broadcaster's lawyers had asked Mr Justice Murray to rule in its favour before the trial, claiming Mahmod had not been defamed.
The judge said: 'The claimant appears to believe that he can use this defamation claim as a vehicle to challenge the allegation in the documentary and the drama that Banaz Mahmod was raped.
'That, of course, is wrong.'
An 'honour' killing is a culturally sanctioned practice most commonly associated with the Middle East, northwest Africa and the Indian subcontinent and their diasporas.
It sees people - mainly women - killed by relatives as a so-called 'punishment' for somehow bringing 'shame' on the family.
In a 15-page ruling, Mr Justice Murray said Ms Mahmod, an Iraqi Kurd, had gone missing three months before her body was discovered.
She was found to have been strangled with a shoelace.
It came as her family's so-called 'punishment' for Ms Mahmod leaving her sexually and physically abusive arranged marriage and falling in love with someone else.
A documentary called Banaz: An Honour Killing was broadcast in October 2012, followed by a two-part drama Honour in September 2020.
The latter stars award-winning actress Keeley Hawes as lead investigator DCI Caroline Goode.
Both ITV programmes produced about the violent murder said the young woman was 'brutally raped' by her killers.
Mahmod claimed when suing the broadcaster in 2023 this implied he 'must either have also ordered her rape or must otherwise have been complicit in its occurrence'.
He said this had led to 'negative consequences' for him, his family and his businesses because 'under Kurdish cultural norms, murder and rape are viewed differently'.
Appearing via video link from HMP Whitemoor in Cambridgeshire, he told the High Court he had been attacked in prison and his family had been subject to reprisals.
Mahmod explained rape was 'absolute taboo' among Kurdish people.
But 'by contrast', he said, 'murder, though reprehensible and deplorable, is seen as comprehensible because given the right chain of circumstance, anyone might commit such crime, one way or another'.
He also described himself in court documents as a 'very well-known businessman with [a] high reputation in [the] UK'.
Mahmod claimed his reputation had been damaged by the broadcasts.
He also said they had caused 'serious harm on his health, life, freedom, daily life, mental, moral future, progression and constant fear to his life and confidence'.
Barristers for ITV claimed at the hearing in London today Mahmod had not been defamed.
The claim was brought too late, they added, and not 'legally recognisable'.
Mr Justice Murray said neither programme 'conveys the meaning that the claimant knew about, was responsible for, or was involved in the alleged rape'.
He added both made clear that Mahmod's role was to 'direct' his niece's murder.
Family members of Ms Mahmod have previously condemned his defamation case.
One relative, who did not want to be identified, previously told the Daily Mail: 'The fact he's bringing this case is quite unbelievable.
'We knew but didn't realise it was actually happening. It's appalling, the whole thing.'
Ms Mahmod had fled the marriage that began when she was 17 after being continuously raped and beaten by her husband, who was ten years older.
She returned to live in the family home in south London where she fell in love with a Kurdish man, Rahmat Suleimani, who later took his own life in 2016.
In the months leading up to her disappearance, Banaz reported to police five times that her family wanted her dead, but no action was taken.
She was deemed to have brought 'shame' on the family with her father and uncle hatching a plan to have her killed in the most savage way possible.
They did so to restore their 'honour' and 'reputation' within the community.
After Ms Mahmod's body was discovered, her father, uncle and other relatives and family associates were charged with her murder or for conspiring in it.
In 2007, after a three-month trial at the Old Bailey, her father Mahmod Mahmod was found guilty of murder and sentenced to life with a minimum of 20 years in prison.
Her uncle was also found guilty of murder and sentenced to life in jail with at least 23 years behind bars.
Her cousin Mohamad Hama also admitted murder and was ordered to serve at least 17 years in prison.
Three years later, her cousins Omar Hussain and Mohamad Saleh Ali, who helped carry out the killing, were extradited from Iraq.
They were found guilty of murder and handed life sentences of 22 years and 21 years respectively.