Body-in-suitcase killer gets life

Ms Ahmed was last seen on Valentine's Day in 2004

An airline worker has been told he will spend at least 15 years in prison for strangling his wife and dumping her body in a suitcase in the River Thames.

Zaheer Ahmed, 28, was sentenced to life for murdering airport check-in assistant Adeeba Ahmed, 27.

Ahmed, who denied murder, strangled her in a fit of temper, it was claimed.

The husband, of Langley, near Slough in Berks, had reported his wife missing on Valentine's Day 2004. Two days later the suitcase was found in south London.

Judge Peter Rook said that Ahmed had "callously and calculatedly" tried to dispose of her body in the river.

She is at peace now Ms Ahmed's sister Atiya Akbar The Valentine's Day vanishing

"She adored you and was utterly loyal to you. You had priority. She considered you before her family and friends," he added.

Outside court, Ms Ahmed's sister Atiya Akbar spoke of the family's grief, saying: "She would still be alive now if it was not for this man. We are grateful to God now He has given her justice.

"She is at peace now she has justice."

She added that whatever the sentence, it could not bring Ms Ahmed back.

When Ahmed reported his wife missing, he told police he had dropped her off earlier to go to the hairdresser before they were due to go out for a meal that evening, prosecutor Jonathan Laidlaw had told the Old Bailey.

But police discovered his Valentine cards to her lay unopened at their home and the two she had bought for him had not been written.

A member of the public later called police after finding the suitcase on the bank of the River Thames at Barnes.

Mr Laidlaw said: "No doubt her murderer hoped the river would sweep the suitcase away and his crime never be discovered."