Kriss Donald appeal on hold as convict fires his lawyers

Published on Thursday 4 February 2010 21:41

A MAN serving 25 years in jail for the racially aggravated murder of Glasgow schoolboy Kriss Donald sacked his lawyers yesterday, just before a hearing in the Court of Criminal Appeal.

Imran "Baldy" Shahid, 33, was given time to instruct new counsel and the case was adjourned.

Shahid led a gang of Asian men who snatched Kriss, 15, off the street near his home in Pollokshields, Glasgow, in March 2004. He was driven to Dundee and back, and then was taken to the Clyde walkway in the Parkhead area of city, where he was stabbed 13 times and, still alive, set alight with petrol.

The gang had wanted revenge on a white youth for an incident at a nightclub the previous night, and Kriss was walking in the area when a victim was being sought.

Shahid, his brother, Zeeshan Shahid, 31, and Mohammed Faisal Mushtaq, 30, were convicted of the murder in 2006. Earlier, a fourth man, Daanish Zahid, 25, had been found guilty, and was called to give evidence at the second trial, but refused to answer questions.

In Imran Shadid's appeal against his conviction, it is claimed that Zahid had been terrified to name his accomplices because of threats. The issue was to have been debated at yesterday's hearing. However, Andrew Lamb, QC, announced that Shahid had become dissatisfied with his representation and wanted to instruct new lawyers.