Three Asian gang members were jailed for life yesterday for the "savage and barbaric" racially motivated murder of a schoolboy in Glasgow who had been singled out because he was white.
Kriss Donald, 15, from Pollokshields, was abducted, stabbed repeatedly and then doused in petrol and burned to death by five men of Pakistani descent in March 2004, apparently in revenge for an earlier incident at a city centre nightclub.
The judge, Lord Uist, told Imran Shahid, 29, his brother Zeeshan, 28, and Mohammed Mushtaq, 27, that their "pre-meditated, cold-blooded execution ... truly was an abomination".
As he sentenced the men to minimum sentences of 25, 22, and 23 years respectively, the schoolboy's mother, Angela, shouted out: "You bastards!"
During the six-week trial the high court in Edinburgh heard graphic and often harrowing testimony from forensic experts that the victim was probably alive when he was set on fire, and had tried vainly to douse the flames by rolling on the ground.
His charred and semi-clothed body was found in the foetal position the following day, on a walkway on the bank of the Clyde. Prosecutors said the murder was "one of the worst and most appalling crimes of inhumanity against an effectively defenceless boy".
The killing horrified white and Asian Glaswegians alike, exposing a seam of criminality and gang culture among some young Pakistani Scots in the city, and causing an upsurge in racial tensions in the area.
The jury of nine women and six men heard that Mr Donald had been singled out by Imran Shahid, 29, known as "Baldy", after Shahid had been hit with a bottle or glass at Victoria's nightclub on Sauchiehall Street in central Glasgow the previous evening.
Shahid, a bodybuilder who at the time sported a distinctive part-shaven, bleached-blond haircut, had pledged to seek revenge for the assault, which he blamed on a rival gang. "Boys from McCulloch Street" had attacked him, the court heard, and he wanted to know which "white bastards" had injured his pride.
Shahid and his four friends set out in a stolen silver Mercedes, cruising the streets of Pollokshaws with a knife, hammer and screwdriver; they came across Kriss Donald, who was a friend of the white men being sought but who was unconnected with the nightclub incident.
The prosecution said the car contained Imran Shahid, his brother, Zeeshan Shahid, nicknamed "Crazy" who was driving, their cousin Daanish Zahid, Mohammed "Becks" Mustaq and Zahid Mohammed.
Their victim was first thrown into the rear footwell of the car despite his vain attempts to grab hold of the car doorframe, and threatened with a knife, punched and kicked, as Imran Shahid shouted: "I'm Baldy, nobody fucks with me."
A friend who narrowly escaped from the gang, Jamie Wallace, said the schoolboy cried out: "I'm only 15, what did I do?"
The prosecution said four of the men then drove their captive on a 200-mile journey via Motherwell and Dundee, phoning friends and underworld associates for advice about what to do next; their journey was traced for the court by tracking some 200 mobile telephone calls.
Eventually they drove back to Glasgow after a white associate suggested that the Clyde walkway was a quiet spot useful for "sorting" someone out.
At the riverside, it was alleged, the 15-year-old was held down, stabbed 13 times and set alight.
The men's mobiles had fallen silent just after 7pm, and started up again about 20 minutes later, when the Mercedes was driven to a back lane near Glasgow University and set on fire.
Later that evening clothes from the attack were burned in another alley by Mushtaq and Zeehan Shahid. The wreckage of the Mercedes held vital forensic evidence, the court heard, including traces of Kriss Donald's blood and one of his trainers, and Imran Shahid's leather jacket, which had been preserved only because firecrews had arrived in time to prevent the car being destroyed by the fire.
Community leaders were extremely worried about the risks of an explosion of racial violence, with accusations that the British National party was stoking up tensions. Mrs Donald intervened with an appeal for calm, stating: "It doesn't matter to my family what colour these men are. Kriss is gone because of gangs, not just in Pollokshields but every area of our communities."
It emerged yesterday that Mohammed Sarwar, the Pakistani-born MP who represents the Pollokshields area, had played a pivotal role in bringing the three men to justice, backed-up by the then foreign secretary Jack Straw.
Mr Sarwar lobbied the Pakistani president, Pervez Musharaff, to introduce a one-off extradition treaty to secure the men's return. One meeting took place at the funeral in Cairo of the Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat. The three eventually agreed to return voluntarily in October last year.
But the role in the trial of the crown's key prosecution witness, Zahid "Ziggy" Mohammed, led to defence accusations of a "fit-up". Mohammed, 22, had been tried and convicted two years earlier on a much-reduced charge of assault and perverting the course of justice, after agreeing to give evidence against his co-accused, Daanish Zahid, 22, who was found guilty in 2004 of Kriss Donald's murder, and against the three men convicted yesterday. Mohammed served half his five-year sentence, becoming a crucial witness in the latest trial on the first day of his release.
David Burns QC, the advocate for Imran Shahid, said Mohammed was a "proven liar ... he has got away with murder". Donald Findlay QC, for Mushtaq, said Mohammed had also supplied the Mercedes and probable murder weapon. Daanish Zahid also gave evidence in the latest trial and claimed: "You have got the wrong men." During the trial Zeeshan Shahid took the stand to deny any involvement in the murder and insisted he had travelled to Pakistan on business.
However, the court heard for the first time yesterday that all three defendants had long criminal histories. Imran Shahid and Mushtaq had numerous previous convictions for violent assaults, while Zeeshan Shahid had convictions for a series of minor offences.
After the jury's verdict Mrs Donald stood outside the court surrounded by family and friends, and said simply : "Justice has been done. It is over."