Cop
denies ordering PC to change statement in honour
killing case
May 24, 2007
London, UK, -- A senior detective has denied
ordering a junior colleague to change records to
help build a stronger case against a man accused of
murdering his daughter in an honour killing.
The Old Bailey today heard Detective Inspector
Caroline Goode allegedly told PC Angela Cornes to
delete parts of a statement which suggested the
victim, Banaz Mahmod, was being melodramatic in
claiming her dad wanted her dead.
Ms Mahmod, an Iraqi Kurd, was found strangled to
death and buried in a suitcase last April after she
vanished from her home on January 23, 2006.
The prosecution claims she was killed by her strict
Muslim dad, Mahmod Mahmod, 52, of Morden Road,
Wimbledon, and her uncle Ari Mahmod, 50, of Sandy
Lane, Mitcham.
The pair deny murdering Ms Mahmod after she fell in
love with Iranian Kurd Rahmat Suleimani.
During the trial PC Cornes told jurors she felt she
might be breaking the law when D Insp Goode asked
her to change her statement to put Banaz in a better
light and make it appear police had taken her
concerns seriously.
But D Insp Goode denied asking PC Cornes to alter
the statement.
She told the court: "I never asked her to alter her
statement.
"I did make comments and I did ask her questions
about what she wrote but I never asked her to cross
things out or change her evidence.
"I wasn't trying to build a case against Mahmod
Mahmod at that stage, I was just trying to find out
what had happened to Banaz. |

Banaz Mahmod Babakir Agha, Found dead The daughter,
who had left her husband

The father- Mahmod Mahmod, who denies murder |