A TAXI driver charged with murdering his wife forced a teenager to lie to save him from jail, a court has heard.
On Monday, a teenage witness claimed Mohammed Tariq Aziz, of Glaven Road, Aylesbury, told her to lie about the clothes he was wearing on the day Zarina Bibi, 40, was killed.
She was also told to tell police that Mr Aziz had a loving relationship with his wife.
The 16 year old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said she complied because she was ‘scared’.
But the youngster was accused of lying in order to make Mr Aziz, 45, ‘sound bad’.
Reading Crown Court was shown footage of three police interviews, which showed the youngster change her story.
In her first, two days after the March 16 killing last year, she said Mr Aziz had been wearing a black zip-up jumper all day.
Prosecutors claim the taxi driver changed his clothing after killing his wife in the early afternoon.
But when the teenager was re-interviewed the following month, she said Mr Aziz had told her to lie. Mr Aziz had, by that stage, been charged with murder.
She told police: “He shut the door and told us: ‘Tell the police I was wearing a black jumper.’
“When I saw him in the morning he was wearing a cream shirt and I think jeans, I’m not sure about shoes.
“He said: ‘If you don’t tell them this, I’ll be in jail for several years, and we don’t want that.”
The youngster said Mr Aziz had also told her to tell police that he had a loving relationship with his wife.
But in her second interview, she alleged the couple had had a fraught relationship for a ‘couple of years’, and Mr Aziz, who was in ‘a lot of debt’, would try to hit Mrs Bibi. Mohammed Khamisa, defending, said the teenager had a record of lying at school.
He said: “There was no violence, I suggest you are lying.”
The teen replied: “No I’m not, actually.”
Mr Khamisa continued: “You want (Mr Aziz) to look bad, don’t you?”
The teen responded: “He is a bad man.”
The defence suggested the youngster had been influenced by others.
Mr Khamisa said: “Has someone told you it’s terribly important to say the shirt was cream?”
The teen responded: “I swear I’m not lying.”
Mrs Bibi was found dead at her home, having suffered nine heavy blows to the head.
