Christians Under Attack

Three members of a violent Asian gang have been jailed for life after being found guilty today of the racist abduction and murder of a 15-year-old schoolboy.

	Kriss Donald: wrong place at the wrong time

Kriss Donald died because of the colour of his skin, and because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. The teenager, described by his family and friends as a loving and gentle boy, was playing truant from school when he was abducted in broad daylight.

His last words, before he was bundled into a stolen Mercedes, were: "I'm only 15. What did I do?".

The gang seized him by chance while seeking revenge for an assault by a "white boy" at a nightclub. After driving the terrified teenager around central Scotland for several hours, they stabbed him 13 times, doused him in petrol and set him alight.

His burnt and scarred remains were found the next day on the edge of the River Clyde in Glasgow.

The murder in March, 2004 was described in court as "an appalling crime of inhumanity against a defenceless boy", and shocked the mixed-race community of Pollokshields on the south side of the city.

Kriss was the innocent the victim of a gang leader and body builder, Imran Shahid, 29, and his henchmen: his brother Zeeshan, 28, nicknamed Crazy; and 27-year-old Mohammed Faisal Mushtaq, nicknamed Becks.

They were convicted of the brutal killing at the end of a six-week trial at the High Court in Edinburgh. Another man, Daanish Zahid, 22, is already serving a minimum of 17 years for his part in the murder, following an earlier hearing.

As the guilty verdicts were returned, the boy's mother Angela punched the air and shouted. It was the second time that she had sat through a murder trial listening to the gruesome details of her son's death.

Zahid was found guilty two years ago, along with a fifth man, Zahid Mohammed, 22, who was jailed for five years for assault and abduction. He has since been released from prison and turned Crown witness to give crucial evidence against the gang.

The three men convicted today, who had a history of violence and intimidation in the Pollokshields area, fled to Pakistan after the murder but were brought back after a rare extradition deal was agreed with the Pakistani authorities.