THE brother of a man accused of murdering his mother-in-law told a court he did not help to dispose of her body.

Mohammed Sharif Khan, 39, denied helping his brother Muhammed Arshad move Zainab Begum's body from her home in Burnley Road, Accrington to the Millennium takeaway in Church Street, Accrington, and then to their home in Crumpsall, Manchester in his car.

But it was revealed in court that he had confessed to the crime during a police interview following his arrest.

In one interview with police he said his brother had rung him on the day Mrs Begum died to tell him he had "finished her".

He told police his brother had then threatened to kill him, his wife and his child if he told anyone.

But at Preston Crown Court yesterday he said that what he allegedly told police had been a lie.

Khan said: "That's not true, he didn't say that. I don't know why I said that."

He told the court that he did not know that his mother-in-law was dead or that the bags his brother put into the boot of his car contained her body until police told him after his arrest.

Khan claimed that his brother told him it was "home stuff" that he needed to take from Burnley Road to their home in Manchester.

He told the court that he had started to make admissions during police interviews so that the police would leave him alone.

The court heard that on the night of Mrs Begum's disappearance Khan and his brother spent all night at the takeaway cleaning in preparation for a visit from health and safety inspectors.

Khan said the following morning they then drove home to Manchester where he went to sleep.

When asked why he had not called his wife and her family to find out if there was any news about his mother-in-law, he said: "I was tired and not feeling very well."

(Proceeding)