A couple in the UK have been convicted for killing their 'Westernised' teenage daughter.

Iftikhar Ahmed and his wife Farzana, are to serve a minimum of 25 years in prison after a jury at Chester Crown Court found them guilty, for the murder of their 17 year old daughter, Shafilea.

During the trial on Friday, it emerged that Shafilea was suffocated with a plastic bag at the family home in northern England on September 11, 2003.

Her decomposed body was found in the River Kent in Cumbria six months later.

It was alleged that Shafilea, the eldest out of 4 children, had been abused for years.

The court heard that her parents felt her choice to lead a "Western" life was a shame for her family, including her refusal to wear traditional clothes and agree to an arranged marriage.

In an interview during the 9 year inquiry, Shafilea's parents denied any wrongdoing.

The breakthrough came when Shafilea's younger sister was arrested in connection with an armed robbery at the family home in August 2010.

It was in a police interview that she said she had seen her parents kill her sister seven years earlier.

Ahmed meanwhile had claimed Shafilea ran away from home in the middle of the night and he never saw her again.

Farzana denied claims that they had attacked Shafilea, but during the three-month trial she changed her account, claiming she saw her husband beat their daughter on the night of the murder.

She also claimed he had threatened to do the same to her and their other children if she ever asked him what happened to Shafilea.

The police and Crown Prosecution Service said they would review conflicting evidence to see if any further action should be taken.