A senior detective has denied ordering a junior colleague to change records to help build a stronger case against a man accused of murdering his daughter in an honour killing.

The Old Bailey today heard Detective Inspector Caroline Goode allegedly told PC Angela Cornes to delete parts of a statement which suggested the victim, Banaz Mahmod, was being melodramatic in claiming her dad wanted her dead.

Ms Mahmod, an Iraqi Kurd, was found strangled to death and buried in a suitcase last April after she vanished from her home on January 23, 2006.

The prosecution claims she was killed by her strict Muslim dad, Mahmod Mahmod, 52, of Morden Road, Wimbledon, and her uncle Ari Mahmod, 50, of Sandy Lane, Mitcham.

The pair deny murdering Ms Mahmod after she fell in love with Iranian Kurd Rahmat Suleimani.

During the trial PC Cornes told jurors she felt she might be breaking the law when D Insp Goode asked her to change her statement to put Banaz in a better light and make it appear police had taken her concerns seriously.

But D Insp Goode denied asking PC Cornes to alter the statement.

She told the court: "I never asked her to alter her statement.

"I did make comments and I did ask her questions about what she wrote but I never asked her to cross things out or change her evidence.

"I wasn't trying to build a case against Mahmod Mahmod at that stage, I was just trying to find out what had happened to Banaz.

"Mahmod Mahmod was a suspect but so were many other people. I was open minded and if I could have eliminated him from the inquiry then I would have. I was simply trying to establish the truth."

The statement was taken after PC Cornes was called to a Wimbledon café on New Year's Eve 2005 after Ms Mahmod was found there covered in blood and pleading for help.

Ms Mahmod claimed her dad and uncle had plied her with brandy and tried to kill her but she escaped by smashing a window.

But PC Cornes thought she was lying and branded her "calculating and manipulative".

D Insp Goode, who has worked in the Met for 26 years, added: "All I ever wanted was to establish the facts so I knew whether Banaz was a witness of truth, whether she was credible.

"I don't think there is anything sinister about this at all. I never asked her to alter anything so the jury would be misled in any way.

"I was simply making comments about her performance and statement. Some of her wording was judgemental and emotive and I asked her what her justification was for making some of her comments.

"In her original crime report she said Banaz had probably get sic drunk herself. It was a sweeping, shocking opinion.

"If she thought I was asking her to pervert the course of justice I am sure she would have made an allegation against me but that has never happened.

"The only reason I think she was uncomfortable was because she thought she was going to be investigated for neglect of duty."

The court heard PC Cornes is pursuing a complaint through the Police Federation but no inquiry has been launched into the incident by the Metropolitan Police.

The trial continues.