A father accused of murdering his daughter because she brought shame on the family has denied being a "domineering and violent man" and called into question his wife's "mental state", a court has heard.
Iftikhar Ahmed, 52, and his wife Farzana, 49, of Liverpool Road, Warrington, are on trial at Chester Crown Court charged with killing their daughter Shafilea, 17, in 2003.
Mrs Ahmed has always denied murder, but this week the jury of seven men and five women were told she had changed her account and said she witnessed her husband beat Shafilea on the night of the alleged murder.
She also claimed he had threatened to do the same to her and their other children if she ever asked him what had happened to Shafilea.
Today, Mukhtar Hussain QC, defending Mrs Ahmed, cross-examined her husband and accused him of being a violent and controlling man.
Iftikhar Ahmed denies killing his daughter
He said: "I put it to you that you are a domineering and violent man. What do you say to that?"
Ahmed replied: "I am not."
Ahmed said a conversation which his wife alleges happened between them when she asked him where Shafilea was "never happened".
Mr Hussain questioned him about the night of the alleged murder and the recent account given by his wife.
He asked: "Where did you take Shafilea on 11 September 2003?"
Shafilea's parents stand accused of her murder, which they deny
He replied: "I never left the house."
Mr Hussain said: "Because she (Mrs Ahmed) would very much like to know where you took her daughter."
Later the jury heard from transcripts of conversations which took place in the Ahmed house and were recorded by a police covert device.
Andrew Edis QC, for the prosecution, said the Ahmeds were discussing using the media to "pin it" on somebody else.
Mr Ahmed denied the allegation, saying: "No, sorry that's not the case.
"We were getting advice, it was just a general conversation about getting our side in the papers.
"We were not trying to get away with murder because we haven't done anything."
It was not until last year that Shafilea's younger sister, Alesha Ahmed, provided the "final piece of the puzzle" about her death, the prosecution say, when she disclosed that she witnessed her parents killing Shafilea at the family home.
The couple allegedly murdered their "Westernised" daughter because they believed her conduct was bringing shame on the family, the prosecution said.
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