Shafilea Ahmed murder in Killer Britain with Dermot Murnaghan

Teenager Shafilea was murdered in front of her siblings by her own parents at the family home in Great Sankey in 2003.

Now true crime documentary series Killer Britain with Dermot Murnaghan will revisit the case – from the 17-year-old being reported missing from her home on Liverpool Road to the discovery of her body in Cumbria, and the conviction of Iftikhar and Farzana Ahmed nearly a decade later.

A Great Sankey High School and Priestley College student, Shafilea was the victim of a brutal honour killing after her parents attempted to force her to marry her cousin in Pakistan.

The Ahmeds suffocated Shafilea to death by forcing a plastic bag down her throat, and she was later reported missing by her friends.

Five months later, her body was discovered by workmen in the River Kent in Cumbria.

While police had always suspected that Iftikhar and Farzana Ahmed had killed their daughter, no evidence was found against them until Shafilea’s sister Alesha was involved in an armed robbery at their home six years later.

Alesha then confessed that she had witnessed her parents choking her sister because of her choice of western clothing, which they deemed to have brought shame on the family.

In 2012, the Ahmeds were convicted of Shafilea's murder and jailed for a minimum of 25 years each.

Iftikhar and Farzana Ahmed

The new series of Killer Britain with Dermot Murnaghan begins on Crime+Investigation next month, with Shafilea’s killing set to be featured in an episode scheduled to be broadcast at 9pm on Monday, April 11.

A spokesman said: “Dermot Murnaghan returns this February to Crime+Investigation for his most explosive season yet of Killer Britain with Dermot Murnaghan.

“Hosted and curated by one of the UK’s best-known journalists, Killer Britain explores British murder stories filled with detective intrigue and chilling storylines.”