Man who beheaded childhood friend who refused to marry him sentenced to death

Noor Mukadam had lived in Ireland for a decade and friends paid tribute to her after her murder last year

Police officers escort Zahir Jaffar, centre, for a court appearance in Islamabad, Pakistan (Anjum Naveed/AP)

A Pakistani court has sentenced a man from a prominent industrialist family to death after finding him guilty of murder for beheading a childhood friend who had refused to marry him.

The killing of Noor Mukadam by Zahir Jaffar last year shocked the country and drew nationwide condemnation, with the subsequent trial widely covered in the media.