Accused father 'feared shame'

Mohammed Yaqub -- accused of hiring a hitman to kill his son-in-law -- is alleged to have offered someone £3,000 for the couple to be flown to Pakistan to split them up.

The bridegroom's father told a Preston Crown Court jury that Yaqub had spoken of possible shame being brought on his family and therefore the defendant had wanted the matter quickly resolved.

Yaqub, 50, of Essex Street, Halifax and four other men are on trial for alleged conspiracy to murder.

The other defendants are: Nazar Hussain, 45, Imran Khalil, 25, Mohammed Hanif, 35, and Mohammed Tufail, 47, all of Halifax.

The jury has been told that a sixth man, Mahboob Hussain, 46, of Snow Street, Blackburn has pleaded guilty to the charge.

The case centres around Yaqub's 22-year-old daughter Shabina and her secret marriage to Zubair Qayum in June 2000. Prior to that, she had refused to have an arranged marriage.

The prosecution claim that her father -- a man of very strong Islamic tradition -- ruled his home with a rod of iron. It is claimed he became obsessed with a perceived sense of shame in his community and therefore hired a contract killer.

However, the hitman was in fact an undercover policeman

Yaqub is said to have involved the other defendants in his plot, but arrests were made after £4,000 was handed over for a "job done".

Company director Abdul Qayum said in evidence that he himself had only learned of his son's marriage a short time before a meeting took place in Conway Street, Halifax, in September 2000. Yaqub was one of those present.

He claimed Yaqub would not accept the marriage had taken place and there was no way he would accept it, saying he had spoken to religious leaders who advised it was null and void.

"He wanted me to get Shabina back to him. He was saying it was going to bring shame on him and his family if people got to know about it and wanted it resolved very quickly.

"He was not interested in listening to anything else. "

(Proceeding)