UK: Racism and fascism (2)
01 January 1991
UK: Racism and fascism
artdoc April=1995
Welsh Asian shopkeeper murdered
Mohan Singh Kullar died nine days after being beaten with a brick
at his shop in Cardiff, Wales. Three men have been charged with
the 60-year-old Asian shopkeeper's murder.
In the months prior to the murder, Mr. Kullar and his family
had been the victims of racial abuse and harassment (Western Mail
29.11,7.12.94,Guardian 29.11,3.12.94, South Wales Evening Post
20.12.94).
Courts round-up
Murderer of Ali Ibrahim convicted
An unemployed 26-year-old man, Ian Leaney, has been convicted of
the murder of Sudanese student, Ali Ibrahim in Brighton in
November 1993. Ali Ibrahim was attacked after he accidentally
bumped into Leaney who proceeded to racially abuse him and his
two friends before stabbing the Sudanese student through the
heart.
Leaney was convicted of murder with a recommendation from the
judge that he serve at least twenty years. Another man charged
with taking part in the attack was later acquitted (Daily
Telegraph 2.12.94).
Stiffer sentences for racists
The Court of Appeal has ruled that a racial motive in crimes of
violence should lead to a stiffer sentence. The court's ruling
was made in reference to the case of Barbadian Kenneth Harris who
was stabbed and then run over by a car after racists abused him
and his white girlfriend. The Court of Appeal increased the
sentences of three white men by two years to reflect the
seriousness of the racist nature of the crime (Times 25.11.94,
Guardian 28.11.94).
In Birmingham, the court also took into account the racial
motive when sentencing two men to thirteen years imprisonment for
the part they played in a vicious assault on Afro-Caribbean Clive
Forbes who was beaten unconscious with an iron bar in June 1993
(Daily Express 10.11.94).
Racism and prisons
Black prisoner killed in Long Lartin
African-Caribbean, Norman Washington Manning was murdered by
white inmates in Long Lartin prison on 29 September. Manning, it
is alleged, was targeted by racists in the prison. No-one has
been charged with his murder (Voice 25.10.94, Caribbean Times
8.11.94).
Study highlights racial violence
According to a Home Office study , the levels of racial violence
and abuse in prisons are far higher than the actual number of
recorded incidents. The research found that inmates were unlikely
to report racial incidents because they did not want to be
labelled as `troublemakers' (Guardian 7.11.94).
Police raid on Combat 18
A police raid on activists from the paramilitary Combat 18 has
led to the discovery of death-lists and bomb-making instructions.
The `hit-list' contained names, addresses and phone numbers of
MPs, police officers and anti-racist activists. Now the Crown
Prosecution Service are considering whether to take action
against 2 prominent C18 activists accused of possessing racist
literature (Jewish Chronicle 13.1.95).
BNP election defeat in east London
BNP candidate Derek Beackon was beaten into third place by Labour
after a local council by-election in Tower Hamlets. Beackon, who
became a national figure after gaining (and subsequently losing)
the Millwall seat in 1993, was standing in the Lansbury
ward(Evening Standard 16.12.94).
IRR European Race Audit, Bulletin no 12, March 1995. Contact: Liz
Fekete, Institute of Race Relations, 2-6 Leeke Street, London
WC1X 9HS. Tel: 0171 837 0041
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