'Cold-blooded execution' of teenager beyond imagination, declares judge

"Racially-aggravated violence, from whatever quarter, will not be tolerated in Scotland, and those who commit it must expect to receive long sentences" - LORD UIST

Story in full THE "savage and barbaric" murder of Kriss Donald was "truly an abomination", the judge said yesterday as he jailed the teenager's three killers for a minimum of 25, 23 and 22 years.

Addressing Imran "Baldy" Shahid, 29, the ringleader of the gang of Asian men who snatched the teenager off the street, repeatedly stabbed him and set him on fire, Lord Uist said: "It is clear ... that you are a thug and a bully with a sadistic nature, and you are not fit to be at liberty in a civilised society."

The jury of nine women and six men found Imran Shahid guilty of racially-aggravated abduction and murder by a unanimous vote. His brother, Zeeshan "Crazy" Shahid, 28, and Mohammed Faisal "Beck" Mushtaq, 27, were convicted of the same offence by a majority.

At the first announcement of "guilty", Kriss's mother, Angela Donald, hugged a boy, believed to be her son, Laurie, sitting at her side in the packed public gallery. At the second, she exchanged smiles with her daughter, Samantha, and at the third, they embraced.

Mrs Donald was unable to contain her emotion and, half standing, she screamed at the three men in the dock: "Yes. You bastards."

In contrast, the Shahid brothers and Mushtaq stared ahead, ignoring the commotion behind them.

Addressing them, Lord Uist said: "You have all been convicted of the racially-aggravated abduction and murder of Kriss Donald, a wholly innocent 15-year-old boy of slight build. He was selected only because he was white and walking in a certain part of the Pollokshields area of Glasgow while you sought out a victim.

"It truly was an abomination. The savage and barbaric nature of this notorious crime has rightly shocked and appalled the public."

Lord Uist said Kriss must have been in a state of extreme terror as his captors took him on a four-hour car journey to Dundee and back, before murdering him at the Clyde walkway in the Parkhead area of Glasgow.

"The agony he must have suffered during the period between being stabbed and set alight and his death is beyond imagining. None of you has shown any remorse for what you have done," he said.

Lord Uist said life imprisonment was the only sentence which could be passed for the crime of murder, but he had also to set the "punishment part", the minimum period which would have to be served by each accused before he could apply for parole. He warned that release after that period was not guaranteed.

Lord Uist said he took into account the criminal records of the men, the diabolical nature of their crime, their lack of remorse and the fact that the offence was racially aggravated.

"Racially-aggravated violence, from whatever quarter, will not be tolerated in Scotland, and those who commit it must expect to receive long sentences," he added.

Lord Uist said Imran Shahid would have to serve a minimum of 25 years in jail. Zeeshan Shahid, the driver of the car used in the abduction, had played an essential part in the murder and had been actively involved in destroying evidence. The punishment part for him would be 23 years.

Lord Uist said Mushtaq, like both of the others, had been jailed previously for assault. He had played a significant role in the murder, making phone calls to try to find a flat to which Kriss could be taken, and helping to burn the car and a bag of clothing after the killing. He would serve at least 22 years.

However, a row broke out over claims that an MSP attempted to make political capital out of the case. Tory Margaret Mitchell hit out at Scotland's sentencing system because Imran Shahid had committed the murder while he was on early release.

Mrs Mitchell, the Scottish Conservative justice spokesman, said: "At Holyrood, the Labour-Lib Dem Scottish Executive has had seven years to end automatic early release and on no less than four occasions rejected Scottish Conservative amendments proposing exactly that."

But Labour's Govan MSP, Gordon Jackson, a leading criminal defence advocate, branded the comments distasteful.

He said: "As the community mourns, this is not the time for the Conservatives to try to make cheap political capital from the sad events."