29/04/2004

Judicial inquiry announced to probe racist cell murder

A judicial inquiry has been launched to investigate how an Asian teenager came to be murdered by his racist cellmate at a young offenders’ institution in West London.

Zahid Mubarek, 19, a first-time offender, convicted of theft, was beaten to death with a table leg the day before he was due to be released by his cellmate, Robert Stewart, at Feltham Young Offenders’ Institution in March 2000.

Stewart, from Tameside, Greater Manchester, was revealed to be a seriously disturbed individual, who had a Ku Klux Klan sign in his cell, at his murder trial. He was jailed for life for the killing of Mubarek in October 2001.

A Commission for Racial Equality (CRE) report last year found that the Prison Service had failed to protect Mr Mubarek and said that he would not have died if he had been white.

Zahid Mubarek’s family have been campaigning for a full public inquiry into his death for four years. They want an explanation as to why he was placed in a cell with a known racist.

Last year, the Law Lords told the Home Secretary to set up a public inquiry. After an appeal by his family, the House of Lords ruled that Home Secretary David Blunkett was wrong to refuse to order an inquiry into his death.

The Home Office will officially announce the inquiry and outline its terms on Thursday. It will be headed by a High Court judge and hear evidence in public. Zahid's family and legal team have compared the case to the murder of Stephen Lawrence, and say a full inquiry will act as a wake-up call to the prison authorities.

(KmcA)

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