Parents in court over daughter's 'honour killing'

The parents of Shafilea Ahmed, the teenager from Warrington who disappeared eight years ago in a suspected "honour killing", appeared in court yesterday charged with her murder.

The 17-year-old Cheshire schoolgirl went missing from her family home in September 2003 amid fears she was being forced into marriage. The decomposed remains of her body were found five months later by the banks of the River Kent in Cumbria.

Her parents – 51-year-old cab driver Iftikhar Ahmed and his wife Farzana, 48 – were initially arrested on suspicion of kidnapping their daughter two months before her body was found but the case was dropped after the CPS decided there was not enough evidence to prosecute.

Yesterday the Ahmeds appeared at Halton Magistrates' Court, Runcorn, charged with her murder. In court yesterday they spoke only to confirm their names and addresses. The case was adjourned for a bail hearing at Manchester Crown Court on Friday, where they will appear via video link.

The parents have always denied having anything to do with their daughter's disappearance.