FACTFILE

Racially Motivated Murders (Known or Suspected) 1991-1999

The IRR has, since 1991, been documenting murders with a suspected or known racial element.*

This page lists murders from 1991-1999. Click here to read about murders from 2000 onwards with a suspected or known racial element.

02/91, Rolan Adams, 15, Greenwich (South London)

Attacked by 12-strong gang shouting 'ni**er'. Stabbed in throat. Recorded as racially motivated after initial prevarication. Mark Thornborrow given life sentence for murder, 7 others charged with violent disorder (later reduced to minor public order offences and given community service orders.)

01/92, Panchadcharam Sahitharan, 28, Newham (East London)

Attacked by gang with baseball bats. Andrew Noble and Gary Hoskin charged with murder and affray. Charges later dropped against Noble, Hoskin acquitted.

01/92, Navid Sadiq, 15, Southwark (South London)

Shot during robbery on off-licence where he worked. On hearing that he had caused injury, attacker said 'Good. I hope they die. My name is Conroy, good English name that. What am I going to get for doing a couple of P*kis? I am Anglo Saxon'. Joseph Conroy given 2 life sentences for murder and attempted murder.

01/92, Mohammed Sarwar, 40s, Manchester

Mini-cab driver dragged from car beaten and left dying in the road. Not recorded as racially motivated.

02/92, Siddik Dada, 60, Manchester

Beaten by gang armed with machetes. Not recorded as racially motivated.

03/92, Donald Palmer, 52, South London

Stabbed by 2 men he found attempting to break into his car. After stabbing men taunted Palmer's wife saying, 'We are the National Front'. George McKay given life sentence for murder. Wayne McGrath given 31/2 years youth custody for manslaughter.

07/92, Rohit Duggal, 15, Eltham (South London)

Gang attack. Not recorded as racially motivated by police but CPS made some reference to racial motivation during trial. Peter Thompson given life sentence for murder.

07/92, Ruhullah Aramesh, 24, Thornton Heath (South London)

Gang attack by around 15 teenagers with metal bars. Recorded as racially motivated. Barry Hannon, Paul Hannon, Joseph Curtin given life for murder. One other convicted of manslaughter through diminished responsiblity, 3 acquitted. Curtin freed on appeal (due to judges' failure to summarise police interview) after serving 3 years.

09/92, Ashiq Hussain, 21, Birmingham

Stabbed on petrol station forecourt after going to aid of another driver being racially abused. Not recorded as racially motivated. Mark Jarvis given 5 years for manslaughter. 2 others acquitted of manslaughter.

09/92, Khoaz Aziz Miah, 60s, Newcastle

Beaten by gang while on his way to mosque. Not accepted as racially motivated until first day of trial. Michael Neilson given life for murder.

10/92, Sher Singh Sagoo, Deptford (South London)

Gang attack in Deptford market where Sagoo was a trader. One person charged with manslaughter, CPS discontinued prosecution on grounds of 'insufficient evidence'.

03/93, Fiaz Mirza, 42, Docklands (East London)

Minicab driver, abducted, beaten and body thrown in Thames. Mark Lee, Ricky Lee both given life for murder.

04/93, Stephen Lawrence, 18, Eltham (South-east London)

Stabbed by gang as he walked to a bus stop with a friend. Police failed to conduct a proper investigation and in July 1993 charges against two youths were dropped because the Crown Prosecution Service said there was insufficient evidence. In April 1996, the Lawrence family launched a private prosecution that collapsed. In July 1997 a public inquiry into the death and the police was announced. The Inquiry by Sir William Macpherson reported in February 1999 and made numerous recommendations about the investigation and prosecution of racially motivated crimes.

04/93, Saied Ahmed, 68, Oxford

Died of burns after arson attack on home.

11/93, Ali Ibrahim, 21, Brighton

Stabbed by drunk shouting racist abuse. Police accepted racial motivation after initially disregarding it. Ian Leaney given life for murder. Stephen MacKrill acquitted after jury failed to reach verdict.

06/94, Shamsudden Mahmood, 26, Orkney, Scotland

A Bangladeshi waiter shot in the face by a white man in a black balaclava in an Indian restaurant in Kirkwall, Orkney. Several thousand people were interviewed but no-one was charged. In May 1997, Orkney police officer, Eddie Ross, a registered firearms instructor, was charged with wilful neglect and violation of duty by attempting to conceal evidence from officers during the murder investigation. Ross who was president of the local gun club, admitted to hiding bullets of a similar calibre and bearing similar numbers to those that were used in the murder. He was found guilty and sentenced to four years in prison. In June 1999, Ross was released, declaring his innocence of any involvement in the murder. His son, Michael Ross, who was 15-years-old at the time of the murder, is the main suspect. (A few days prior to the murder, Michael was seen in local woods wearing a black balaclava and dark clothing acting suspiciously.) In January 2004, for the first time detectives admitted the murder may have had a racial motive.

07/94, Donna O'Dwyer, 26, Leyton (East London)

Fell 13 floors to escape fire after arson attack on party. Not recorded as racially motivated despite attackers' ex National Front membership and collection of nazi paraphernalia. Peter Thurston given life for arson, GBH and murder.

12/94, Mohan Singh Kullar, 60, Neath (South Wales)

Beaten to death in his own shop by racist gang. Recorded as racially motivated. Grant Watkins sentenced to life for murder, Stephen May 8 years for manslaughter, Ian Thomas 31/2 years for violent disorder. 2 others acquitted.

02/95, Mushtaq Hussain, 49, Blackburn

Died of stroke after being beaten. Two men were charged with manslaughter.

03/96, Daniel Blake, 18, Neasden (North-west London)

Daniel died in mysterious circumstances. He was found dead on a railway line in Neasden. There was evidence that there had been an argument and a fight prior to his death. British Transport Police arrested eight men and two women in connection with his death but the CPS decided not to prosecute anyone. In 1999, Daniels body was exhumed by order of the Racial and Violent Crime Task Unit who reopened the case.

04/96, John Reid Plumstead, South London

White man married to black woman. Beaten to death and set on fire after long-running racist campaign against couple. In October 1998, the three men who had appealed against their murder convictions, were found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment.

01/97, Michael Menson, 29, Edmonton (North London)

Set alight by group of youths while in phone box. Not recorded as racially motivated until approx 1 year afterwards. Police initially believed Menson set light to himself. After arrests in March 1999, Mario Pereira was found guilty of murder and sentenced to life while Harry Charalambous was jailed for 12 years for manslaughter. Ozguy Cevat was pursued to Northern Cyprus where he was prosecuted for manslaughter and sentenced to 14 years.

10/97, Lahkvinder 'Ricky' Reel, 18, Kingston (Surrey)

Disappeared after racial incident in town centre on leaving nightclub, body later dragged from Thames. Regarded as 'accidental death' by police. No murder investigation. An inquest later recorded an open verdict, thus refuting police assumptions that Ricky's death was an accident.

02/98, James Tossell, 16, Kengfig Hill (near Bridgend, Wales)

James and his friend, Steven Gibbs, were racially abused and attacked by a gang of youths who threw bricks at Steven's home where James and Steven had barricaded themselves. The flat was later set alight and James died. Charges against two youths were dropped because of insufficient evidence.The CPS also decided there was insufficent evidence to prosecute the officers involved in the investigation of the original attack, after a complaint was made by the Tossell family.

04/98, Akofa Hodasi, 24, Frimley (Surrey)

Found hanging from a tree three days after being the victim of a vicious racist attack by a gang of white youths during which his friend, Nathan Evans, was repeatedly slashed. No one has been charged in relation to Akofa's death.

11/98, Remi Surage, 56, Orpington (Kent)

Knifed in the back and later died in hospital. One of his attackers, Paul Knight, who is also alleged to have wounded another black man, maintained that he was mentally unfit to plead and was sent to Broadmoor indefinitely for manslaughter (through diminished responsibility). The other attackers remain at large.

11/98, Surjit Singh Chhokar, 32, Wishaw (Lanarkshire)

Attacked with a knife outside his girlfriend's house by three white men. The attackers were identified by Surjit's girlfriend and arrested, but only one of them stood trial - for assault, not murder - and was later discharged. After a family campaign, two other men stood trial in connection with his death and in November 2000 they were found not guilty of his murder. One of the men, 19-year-old Andrew Coulter, received a 12-month sentence for assaulting Surjit and theft from his flat. Two reports into the murder were published: one by advocate Dr Raj Jandoo found elements of institutional racism in the procedures of Strathclyde Police and the prosecution service. As a result, Scotland's eight police forces were issued with new guidelines on dealing with racist crime.

12/98, Farhan Mire, 32, Harrow (North London)

Kicked to death in street by white man after an argument with a woman who then shouted for help. A man was charged with the murder in April 1999 but later released after the CPS decided that there was not enough evidence to prosecute.

01/99, Jay Abatan, 42, Brighton

Died five days after being attacked at the Ocean Rooms nightclub after an argument over a mini cab. Two men charged with manslaughter but charges later dropped.

04/99, Andrea Dykes, 27, John Light, 32 and Nicholas Moore, 31, Soho, London

Killed after a bomb planted by a far-right extremist exploded in the Admiral Duncan, a gay pub in Soho, central London. Over 129 people were injured in bomb attacks in Soho, Brixton and Brick Lane. In June 2000, 23-year-old David Copeland was sentenced to six life sentences for the bombings after his plea of diminished responsibility was thrown out. He had been a member of the BNP and National Socialist Movement.

05/99, Stelios Economou, North London

Stelios was pushed under a train after helping two black girls who were being racially abused. Allan Casey was arrested and pleaded guilty to manslaughter on grounds of diminished responsibility. Casey is being detained indefinitely in a mental institution.

07/99, Harold (aka Errol) McGowan, 32, Telford (Shropshire)

Found hanged in suspicious circumstances after suffering two-year campaign of racist abuse. Police assumed the death was a suicide. No-one has been charged in relation to Harold's death.

07/99, Liaquat (aka Bobby) Ali, 30, Bury (Manchester)

Murdered, as he lay sleeping, by racist house-mate, 28-year-old Simon Rawcliffe. His racist record was not fully disclosed in court, but he was detained at Ashworth mental hospital for life. In September 2003, an inquiry was critical of the psychiatric care that Rawcliffe received from mental health professionals in Bury. It found that his notes had been lost and that staff were not fully aware of his mental problems before he was released to stay in bed-and-breakfast accommodation.

07/99, Joseph Alcendor, 62, Paddington (London)

Died after being punched in the head after leaving a party. A man has been charged with murder.

09/99, Ben Kamanalagi, 28, Salford (Manchester)

Died in hospital after being beaten by four men armed with baseball bats and fence posts. It is thought the attack was motivated by revenge after Ben, who worked as a nightclub bouncer, had three days earlier thrown a young man out of the club. In February 2001, two men were jailed for five and half years for murder and another man was cleared.

09/99, Hassan Musa, 44, Sunderland

A Libyan student who died after spending twenty-one years in a vegetative state as a result of being kicked unconscious in a racist gang attack by white thugs in Sunderland in July 1978. At the time of the attack, 23-year-old Hassan, who was a student in Chelmsford, was visiting friends in Sunderland. He spent twenty-years in hospital before he died from pneumonia in Royal Liverpool University hospital. Three men, likened to a 'pack of dogs', were sentenced to a total of eleven years imprisonment after being found guilty of GBH and public order offences. The inquest recorded a verdict of unlawful killing and the case was referred back to Sunderland police who ruled out further prosecutions because Hassan survived for more that a year after he was assaulted.

12/99, Zardasht Draey, 19, Fulham (west London)

A Kurdish man, whose family fled Iraq in the 1991 Gulf war, attacked in the early hours of the morning and found with serious injuries at a bus-stop in Fulham. He died in hospital two days later as a result of serious head injuries. In June 2000, Christopher Peterkin was convicted of his murder.

12/99, Jason McGowan, 20, Telford (Shropshire)

Disappeared minutes before midnight on New Year's Eve. He was found hanged on roadside railings a few hours later. He had been investigating his uncle's apparent suicide (see above). Police assumed a second suicide and no-one has been charged in relation to Jason's death.

Other deaths from 1991-1999 in which racism probably played a significant role

10/95, Gosar Shah, 68, Bounds Green (north London) Died of a heart attack after suffering racial abuse, Bounds Green, north London.
03/96, Michael Czytajlo, 74, Oldham Ukrainian holocaust survivor, died of heart attack after suffering racial abuse.
11/99, Jermaine Lee, 29, Birmingham A postman found hanged after suffering years of racist abuse and bullying by colleagues at the Aston sorting office. In July 2002, his family was awarded £100,000 after Royal Mail settled out of court.

Click here to read about murders from 2000 onwards with a suspected or known racial element.

* The IRR considers that the identification of racially motivated murders and attacks must depend on an objective evaluation of the whole context in which the murder or attack takes place and not just on the skin colour or ethnicity of the alleged perpetrator(s) or victim. In particular, the IRR would regard a murder or attack as racially motivated if the evidence indicates that someone of a different ethnicity, in the same place and similar circumstances, would not have been attacked in the same way. Subject to the above, a formal legal finding or allegation of racial motivation would be taken as prima facie (but not definitive) evidence that a murder or attack was racially motivated.Last updated on 26 April 2006. Additional information on these cases is available on request.

The Institute of Race Relations is precluded from expressing a corporate view: any opinions expressed are therefore those of the authors.