A father, uncle and distant cousin were given life sentences yesterday for the barbaric “honour killing” of a young woman they believed had shamed their family by falling in love.

Mahmod Mahmod, 52, will serve at least 20 years for hiring a gang of Kurdish thugs to murder his daughter, Banaz, 20. His brother, Ari Mahmod, 51, a businessman, will serve at least 23 years for meticulously planning the killing. Mohamad Hama, 31, was jailed for a minimum of 17 years for strangling Miss Mahmod at her home in Mitcham, South London. The men had decided that Miss Mahmod should be tortured, raped and murdered to restore “honour” on their family name and serve as a lesson to women in their community. Miss Mahmod had previously fled an abusive arranged marriage that prevented her from studying to become a lawyer. She had wanted to move in with her boyfriend, Rhamat Sulemani, 29, and begin her legal studies.

She was raped and murdered after contacting police four times saying that she feared for her life. She was garrotted but took half an hour to die as Hama stamped on her neck to “get the soul out”. Her body was crammed into a suitcase and driven to Birmingham, where it was buried in a back garden in January last year.

Two investigations have begun to see if more could have been done to prevent her death. Five police officers face the threat of disciplinary action as a result of the trial.

In impact statements read to the court, Mr Sulemani and Miss Mahmod’s sister, Bekhal, 22, who had already fled the family home, said that they would for ever be looking over their shoulders fearing reprisals for giving evidence against the men.

Sentencing the father and uncle, Judge Brian Barker, the Common Serjeant of London, said: “You are hard and unswerving men for whom apparent respect from the community is more important than the happiness of your flesh and blood, and for whom killing in the name of honour is above understanding and tolerance.”

He added that the uncle was the “force” behind the “cold-blooded” murder carried out by Hama and two other Kurdish men who fled Britain. Miss Mahmod’s older sister told the court that she left the family home when she was 16 and had been ostracised as a result. “This world was not good enough for Banaz,” she said. “I wish with all my heart that I had taken her with me in 2005 when I last saw her because she would still be alive.”

Mr Sulemani, an Iranian Kurd, said that his world was empty without her and he had contemplated suicide because he could not fathom how a father could kill his own daughter. Hama, from West Norwood, South London, had pleaded guilty to murder. The jury was unanimous in finding the father and uncle, from Mitcham, guilty after a three-month trial.

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