Shafilea's sister 'wrote fiction about parents killing a teenager'

"I swore on her life and lied"; "she was practically thin and dying"; "they treated her like st"; "they took her in a suitcase"; "why did the rest sit and watch".

Extracts from a story written by one of the sisters of Shafilea Ahmed, whose body was discovered in February 2003. Mevish Ahmed's seemingly damning story is, according to her testimony today, a work of fiction.

Mevish, 21 has been giving evidence in the trial of her parents Iftikhar Ahmed, 52 and Farzana, 49. They both deny murdering 17-year-old Shafilea at the family home in Warrington, Cheshire, in September 2003.

Mevish is giving evidence for the prosecution after being initially scheduled to be a defence witness.

The letters were written by Miss Ahmed in 2008. In them, she describes "how her parents killed the teenager". They were later given to her friend, Shahin Munir, Chester Crown Court heard.

When Mevish was questioned about the writings by Andrew Edis QC, for the prosecution, she claimed they were "free writing".

Mr Edis asked Mevish if she was aware that Ms Munir had given the police "the letters you wrote to her about your sister's death". The witness said:

Mevish was 12 when her sister disappeared.

Another sister, Alesha, has previously told the court that she witnessed her parents suffocating Shafilea with a plastic bag before loading what she believed to be her body into a car.

The couple murdered their "Westernised" daughter because they believed her conduct was bringing shame on the family, the prosecution say.

Iftikhar and Farzana Ahmed both deny the charge of murder. The case continues.