Christians Under Attack

had been raped by 19 Asian men. The rumour, circulated on local radio and in the Black press, claimed that because the girl was an illegal immigrant, she had been too scared to go to the police.

Despite the lies which started the violence, which saw groups of Asian Muslims and West Indian origin youths fighting and smashing up shops and cars, the riots brought to the surface a simmering resentment between two ethnic groups which had previously lived in harmony. We discussed the underlying tensions and gang politics in the region. There we mentioned that a young man had been shot dead on the night of October 22.

The 18 year old man who had been killed was Isaiah Young-Sam. He was black, and a Christian, and worked as a computer analyst. With his brother and two friends he was in the Lozells area, and was trying to escape the rioting.

Today, according to the BBC, a jury unanimously found three Asian Muslim men guilty of murder. The three convicted men were Waqar Ahmed (26), Azhil Khan (23) and Afzal Khan (22), who lived in nearby Handsworth. Ahmed and Khan are pictured above left.

The judge at the trial, Mr Justice Mackay, said: "The four men were set upon because they were Afro-Caribbean and for no other reason. They had done nothing to these defendants and done nothing to incur or justify hostility. What led to the death of Isaiah Young-Sam was the colour of his skin."

Mackay said that the three convicted males were caught up in the mob violence, which they could have resisted.

He told the three Muslims that they would serve a minimum of 25 years in jail.

After hearing the verdict, relatives of the Muslims screamed that the three were innocent from the public gallery, and were warned by Mackay that they would be removed if they did not remain quiet.

The Muslims were in cars, and were wearing "hoodies" and bandanas. They hunted the four, got out of the car and gave chase. Isaiah was not so fast, and was stabbed in the heart. His friend Locksley Byfield was stabbed in the rear end. The three convicted men were also found guilty of this assault, and were given a 10 year sentence, to run concurrently with the murder sentence.

Kavina Young-Sam, Isaiah's older sister described her brother (pictured right) as kind, gentle and respectful. She said: "His interests included going to the gym, leisure time on his computer and listening to music. One of his more serious interests was in his Bible, which had a big impact on how he lived his life and how he dealt with others in such a fair and positive manner. My parents, my brother and myself will never come to terms with the vicious attack and murder of Isaiah and cannot understand how people could take the life of such an innocent young man."

The three Muslim killers had, after the killing, gone to Huddersfield a day later, and then returned to Birmingham where they booked one-way plane tickets to Pakistan. There is no extradition treaty between the UK and Pakistan, and numerous Muslim criminals have gone to Pakistan, knowing they can not be brought to justice in the UK. On their flight to Pakistan, when the plane stopped at Dubai they were brought out of the plane and sent back to Britain, where they were arrested.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at May 22, 2006 02:28 PM