Topic Lifecycle: Dormant
This topic is currently dormant in the news cycle. It was last covered on Thursday 6 August 2026 and has not appeared in recent broadcasts.
Coverage trend (last 30 days)
How much coverage this topic got from each channel over the past month.
Recent stories
The latest story timelines linked to this topic, newest activity first.
What was reported
A plain summary of this topic, built from the channels that covered it.
A 26-year-old man has appeared in court in Athens charged in connection with the death of Elizabeth Jane Ross, a 38-year-old Scottish aid worker whose body was found in a suitcase in a derelict building. The man, identified as Sharifa Mazzi by ITV1 and as Sharif Ahmadzai by 5 HD, denies killing her. He claims he found her already dead in her bathroom and panicked. The court hearing was not open to the public. He has admitted moving the body, and CCTV footage shows him allegedly carrying a large suitcase. Ross, from Edinburgh, had been volunteering with groups supporting abused women and refugees. The man is an Afghan refugee. He faces charges including homicide, robbery, and weapons offences according to ITV1, while 5 HD reports a murder charge and also that he is accused of taking money from Ross's account and sending messages from her phone after her death. The exact cause of death is still being established, though 5 HD reports police believe she died of suffocation. He is due to appear in court again the following day.
Key Claims by Channel
Thursday 30 July 2026
| Claim |  |  | BBC ONE HD |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reported by a few · 2 channels | |||
| Elizabeth Jane Ross's body was discovered in a suitcase in an abandoned building in Athens on 18 July 2026. | Reported by Channel 5 | Not reported by BBC News | BBC ONE HDReported by BBC ONE HD |
| A homeless man discovered the body. | Reported by Channel 5 | Not reported by BBC News | BBC ONE HDReported by BBC ONE HD |
| Interpol fingerprint data identified the victim. | Reported by Channel 5 | Not reported by BBC News | BBC ONE HDReported by BBC ONE HD |
| Her phone was reportedly used after her death to send messages to relatives claiming she was fine. | Reported by Channel 5 | Not reported by BBC News | BBC ONE HDReported by BBC ONE HD |
| Cause of death is pending; toxicology tests are underway. | Reported by Channel 5 | Not reported by BBC News | BBC ONE HDReported by BBC ONE HD |
| Scotland's First Minister offered support and called the case appalling. | Reported by Channel 5 | Not reported by BBC News | BBC ONE HDReported by BBC ONE HD |
| Only on one channel | |||
| Police are reviewing CCTV footage to trace her last movements and companions. | Reported by Channel 5 | Not reported by BBC News | Not reported by BBC ONE HD |
| Police have evidence she was last seen alive on 15 July 2026. | Reported by Channel 5 | Not reported by BBC News | Not reported by BBC ONE HD |
| She is believed to have travelled to Greece in late June and stayed with a friend. | Not reported by Channel 5 | Not reported by BBC News | BBC ONE HDReported by BBC ONE HD |
| She left her friend's home three days before her body was found. | Not reported by Channel 5 | Not reported by BBC News | BBC ONE HDReported by BBC ONE HD |
| The Foreign Office is in contact with her family. | Not reported by Channel 5 | Not reported by BBC News | BBC ONE HDReported by BBC ONE HD |
Wednesday 5 August 2026
| Claim | |  |
|---|---|---|
| Reported by all 2 channels | ||
| The accused is a 26-year-old man named Sharif Ahmadzai (also reported as Sharifa Mazzi). | Reported by Channel 5 | Reported by ITV |
| The accused denies the killing and claims he found Elizabeth Jane Ross already dead in her bathroom. | Reported by Channel 5 | Reported by ITV |
| The accused admitted moving the body. | Reported by Channel 5 | Reported by ITV |
| CCTV shows the accused allegedly carrying a large suitcase believed to contain the body. | Reported by Channel 5 | Reported by ITV |
| Elizabeth Jane Ross was 38 years old, from Edinburgh, and worked as a charity volunteer supporting abused women and refugees. | Reported by Channel 5 | Reported by ITV |
| The accused is an Afghan refugee who left as a teenager and settled in Greece in 2016. | Reported by Channel 5 | Reported by ITV |
| The accused will appear again in court the following day. | Reported by Channel 5 | Reported by ITV |
| Only on one channel | ||
| The accused is charged with intentional homicide, robbery, and weapons offences. | Not reported by Channel 5 | Reported by ITV |
| The accused is charged with murder. | Reported by Channel 5 | Not reported by ITV |
| The accused is a known champion boxer. | Reported by Channel 5 | Not reported by ITV |
| The accused converted to Christianity after meeting his wife, a US citizen named Elena Hall. | Reported by Channel 5 | Not reported by ITV |
| The accused's wife called police after waking up to find him gone. | Reported by Channel 5 | Not reported by ITV |
| The accused is accused of taking thousands from Ross's account and sending messages from her phone after her death. | Reported by Channel 5 | Not reported by ITV |
| Police believe Ross died of suffocation. | Reported by Channel 5 | Not reported by ITV |
| The court hearing was not open to the public or press. | Not reported by Channel 5 | Reported by ITV |
This is a cross-channel consensus summary, not an objective account. Consensus can be uniformly wrong, or omit what only one channel covered.
Timeline
Where this topic appeared. Cells show coverage time and are darker when there was more coverage.
| Date | Channel 5 | BBC News | BBC One | BBC Two | Channel 4 | GB News | ITV | Sky News |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thursday 6 August 2026 | — | — | 2m 48s 3.2% | — | — | — | — | 2m 45s 6.9% |
| Wednesday 5 August 2026 | 2m 33s 9.3% | — | — | — | — | — | 1m 51s 4.0% | — |
| Sunday 2 August 2026 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 1m 30s 5.5% | — |
| Thursday 30 July 2026 | 2m 32s 8.0% | 2m 5s 2.7% | — | — | — | — | — | — |