UK: Police investigate racially motivated murders
01 November 2008
Police are investigating the murders of two young men in August that appear to have been racially motivated. A 17-year old boy, Nilanthan Murddi, from the Tamil community, was stabbed to death in south London, on 16 August and a week later a 16-year old Qatari, Mohammed al-Majed, was beaten to death outside a kebab shop in Hastings, East Sussex.
Nilanthan Murddi died after his throat was cut in an attack in Sumner Road, Croydon that was preceded by a volley of drunken racist abuse. The teenager had been chatting with friends when a mini-cab drew up at traffic lights and its white passenger shouted racist abuse at them. Nilanthan and his friends told the man to “go away, because you are being racist.” Initially, the man did walk away, but returned and threw a punch at Nilanthan but, as one of his friends explained: “he must have had a blade in his hand because [Nilanthan] ended up with a slashed throat.” His friends fought desperately to save his life before an ambulance crew arrived; a post mortem established that he died from a stab wound to the neck. A 30-year old white man, Stephen Braithwaite, of no fixed abode, appeared at Sutton magistrates’ court in August in connection with the murder; he was remanded in police custody.
Sixteen-year old Mohammed al-Majed, a Qatari student who was studying English at a foreign language summer school in Hastings, Sussex, died after being attacked by a white gang outside the USA Fried Chicken takeaway restaurant in the town on 24 August. The owner of the takeaway said that he had alerted the police to the presence of the gang an hour before the murder, asking them to keep an eye on the group. Mohammed was five weeks into a six week course, when he was attacked and beaten, kicked and pelted with bottles by gang members, who then stamped on his head. A friend also suffered severe bruising and a head injury in the onslaught, which required six stitches. Sussex police said that they were treating the death as a murder inquiry and investigating it as racially motivated. Despite denials by Hastings council, there is a high incidence of racist attacks in the area on foreign language students and anecdotal evidence suggests that many foreign students are concerned at walking in the town centre after dark.
Two East Sussex men, Alexander Quinn (18) and Paul Rockett (20), were charged in connection with the Mohammed al-Majed’s killing at the end of September. Rockett was charged with racially aggravated common assault while Quinn faces charges of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm relating to an assault on Mr al-Majed’s friend.
Harmit Atwhal “Two murders investigated as racist” IRR: http://www.irr.org.uk/2008/august/ha000008.html