A MURDERER is suing ITV for £400,000 — claiming a crime drama based on his “honour killing” of his niece blackened his name.
Ari Mahmod, 68, is representing himself and, should he win, hopes to spend the damages when he is his released, due to be in 2030.
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He ordered three cousins to kill Banaz Mahmod, 20, after she walked out on an abusive arranged marriage.
All four and Banaz’s dad were jailed for life in 2007 and 2010.
In 2020, the horrific crime was dramatised in Honour, starring Keeley Hawes as the cop who nailed Mahmod.
Banaz, of Mitcham, South London, was raped and throttled and her body buried in a Birmingham garden.
Court papers obtained by The Sun show Mahmod, who is at Whitemoor Prison, Cambs, is demanding £400,000 for “defamation, libel and slander”.
He launched his action while terrified members of his victim’s family remain in hiding on witness protection in fear of his wrath.
A legal source said: “It’s astonishing that a man convicted of such a sickening crime can suggest the ITV show blackened his name. He plotted, instigated and ordered the appalling sexual torture and rape of his own niece in the name of ‘honour’ and clearly has no reputation left to damage.”
ITV has instructed law firm Osborne Clarke to defend the action, and declined to comment yesterday.