Trio Jailed For Race Hate Murder

Three Asian men have been sentenced to life in prison for the murder of a 23-year-old Black IT worker during uprisings in Birmingham. Devout Christian Isaiah Young-Sam was trying to avoid rioting in Lozells last October, when he was stabbed in the heart.

 

Waqar Ahmed, 26, Azhil Khan, 23, and Afzal Khan, 22, from Handsworth, had denied murder. They were told they would serve a minimum of 25 years. The trial judge said Isaiah was killed for no other reason than that he was African Caribbean.
 
The court heard how two or three cars pulled up in front of the victim and his friends as they made their way through back streets of Lozells. A group of men wearing hoodies and bandanas got out and chased them. Mr Young-Sam, a computer analyst for Birmingham City Council, fell behind and was attacked.

The defendants were also convicted, and given 10 years in jail to run concurrently, for attacking Mr Young-Sam's friend, Locksley Byfield, who suffered a non life-threatening stab wound to the backside in the incident which took place during the evening of 22 October, 2005.

Rumours that the Asian owner of a beauty products shop was behind the gang rape of a Jamaican school girl led to a bloody weekend of disturbances in Birmingham that claimed at least one life and left more than 30 people injured. Police claimed people were dragged from cars and beaten and shops looted, and 35 people were taken to hospital.

African Caribbean community leaders told The-Latest  at the time  that a criminal minority of Muslim youth were behind the trouble. They have been told that, for more than a year, Muslim youths have snatched women from their community on the street and 'raped them'. Yet thIs has not been reported to the police who have faced a wall of silence in the Muslim community. Both Muslims and African Caribbeans have been involved in the current violence.

Four people were stabbed during the civil unrest. Bishop Dr Joe Aldred, chair of the Council of Black-Led Churches, said: 'What has become clear is that there are people in Birmingham who feel their grievances have not been properly understood or dealt with. We are committed to working with everybody to tackle these challenges and hold out our hands to all faith communities in our effort to achieve justice and peace. I call on everyone to remain calm and to be mindful that the right way to raise legitimate concerns is by peaceful means which do not stir up hatred and discord.' Violence erupted in the city's Lozells area on Saturday night after an Asian businessman was said to be behind the gang rape of the 14-year-old girl who worked for him. The 33-year-old shopkeeper, who has not been named, protested his innocence and claimed he was the victim of a vendetta. The Voice newspaper reported that more than a thousand angry people gathered outside Beauty Queen Cosmetics in the Perry Barr area of the city where the attack is believed to have happened. Protesters said the attack has heightened existing tensions between the Asian and African Caribbean communities. Carmen Marshall told The Voice: “What has happened to this poor girl isn’t right, this is out of order. If she stole something, don’t rape her. What if a Black man was to attack an Asian girl?”

After a public meeting at the New Testament Church of God in Lozells Road, on Saturday, attended by more than 500 people, some of theose who attended said they were set upon by a mob of Asian youths lying in wait outside. Police recorded 80 mainly public order offences in 75 minutes and made 10 arrests. One of the injured taken to hospital was a police officer who was shot in the thigh with a ball bearing gun. The disturbances followed days of increasing tensions between African Caribbean and Asian youths around the Handsworth, Aston and Lozells areas of the city in the Perry Barr constituency of Khalid Mahmood MP. In a further development, two men have been arrested after an 18-year-old man was shot dead in the Newtown area of Birmingham during a "serious incident" on Sunday. West Midlands Police said today. A police spokeswoman commented that it was "too early to tell" whether it was directly connected to this weekend's disturbances in the Lozells area of the city. The spokeswoman said there had been "sporadic incidents" of disorder throughout the night, involving small groups of youths in the Lozells area, but these were of a "considerably lower scale" than Saturday night's clashes. The latest shooting happened about a mile from the Lozells area. She said: "It is too early to say whether this incident is directly connected to the bigger picture. Given its proximity to the other events, we cannot rule it out."

Armed police were called to Melbourne Avenue in Newtown at about 12.40am today in connection with sightings of a gun. The police spokeswoman said: "It would appear that at some point while police were searching the area, an 18-year-old suffered a gunshot wound and was taken to hospital where he has since died.Two men have been arrested in connection with this. Fears of a second night of violence were ignited earlier when a gang of up to 100 Asian youths charged down Lozells Road in a display of what one protester said was an act to "reclaim our streets".

The sudden escalation, at about 10.30pm, proved that the already tense atmosphere around the area was still bubbling under the surface. Saturday night's violence came after residents attended a public meeting to air their concerns about an unconfirmed gang rape by Asian men of the Jamaican girl, whom the authorities believed to be an “illegal immigrant.” West Midlands Police, who have faced heavy criticism from the community, have been unable to trace the alleged victim and no official complaint has been made since.