Three Asian gang members were jailed for life today for the "savage and barbaric" race-hate murder of a defenceless young white teenager.
Imran Shahid (29) his brother Zeeshan Shahid (28) and 27-year-old Mohammed Faisal Mushtaq were convicted of the abduction and killing of Kriss Donald in Glasgow.
Kriss (15) was stabbed 13 times and set on fire while he was still alive on a quiet walkway behind Celtic FC's training ground in the east end of the city.
Judge Lord Uist, who said Kriss was targeted at random because he was white, described the murder as "an abomination" which had "rightly shocked and appalled the public".
As the verdict was delivered, Kriss's mother Angela Donald shouted "You bastards", before being embraced by family and friends. Outside court she thanked those who had helped bring about the convictions for the "hellish murder".
"Justice has been done," she said, while clutching her daughter Samantha. "Thank you. It is over."
After five weeks of evidence, prosecutor Mark Stewart QC described the killing as "an appalling crime of inhumanity against a defenceless boy". Kriss was snatched on March 15th 2004 near his Pollokshields home in a random act of racially motivated revenge by the gang.
He was taken on a terrifying 200-mile journey across Scotland before being driven to the secluded spot on the banks of the River Clyde where he was savagely attacked and left for dead.
All three accused fled to Pakistan after the murder but were extradited back to Britain more than a year later. They all denied taking part in the killing, but the jury of six men and nine women found Imran Shahid guilty by unanimous verdict and the other two guilty by majority verdicts.
Lord Uist said Kriss was selected as their victim only because he was white and walking in a certain part of the Pollokshields area.
He told the killers: "This murder consisted of the premeditated, cold-blooded execution of your victim by stabbing him 13 times and setting alight with petrol while he was still alive. "It truly was an abomination." The judge sentenced Imran Shahid, the ringleader of the "evil expedition", to a minimum of 25 years behind bars. "You are a thug and a bully with a sadistic nature and you are not fit to be at liberty in a civilised society," he told him.
Shahid's brother Zeeshan Shahid will have to spend 23 years in prison for playing "an essential part in the commission of the murder".
Mushtaq must spend 22 years in jail before being able to apply for parole. The jury heard in graphic detail the final hours of the teenager's life and the shocking events which led to his death.
Kriss's body was found by a cyclist on the secluded Clyde Walkway the morning after he was snatched from the street and bundled into a stolen Mercedes. Investigators found pools of blood, a stench of petrol and scorch marks near the spot where the lifeless body lay.
Experts said they believed the 15-year-old was still alive as his body burned. Events began with an outburst of rage from Imran Shahid, thirsty for revenge on the "white boys" from McCulloch Street in Pollokshields, after claiming he had been attacked with a glass bottle outside a nightclub.
Raging Shahid, known as Baldy, threatened to "chop them up and take their eyes out". The gang then trawled the streets in Glasgow's south side where they encountered Kriss, who was walking with a friend. As he was beaten and dragged into the car in broad daylight, Kriss pleaded: "I'm only 15, what did I do?"
The gang then took their victim on a four-hour terror drive as far as Dundee, before returning to the Clyde Walkway where they carried out the "diabolical" crime. Kriss bled very heavily after the murder weapon pierced his rib cage, arteries and internal organs, and he suffered widespread burns to 70% of his body.
"Your victim must have been in a state of extreme terror," Lord Uist told the three. "The agony which he must have suffered during the period between being stabbed and set alight and his death is just beyond imagining."
The judge condemned the killers, who had all been jailed for previous offences, for their lack of remorse throughout. Witness accounts, statements made by the accused, phone records and forensic evidence helped snare the gang.
Strathclyde Police assistant chief constable John Malcolm welcomed the guilty verdict for what he described as a "horrendous crime". Bashir Ahmad, a councillor for the Pollokshields East constituency, where Kriss was abducted, also welcomed the verdict.
He said: "We in the community are all glad to see that justice was done over this brutal murder and the moving words of Kriss Donald's mother outside the court are ringing in our ears. "The victims of this gang were Asian as well as white and everyone in the neighbourhood is relieved to see these people have been taken off our streets."
The Scottish National Party local politician added: "This terrible crime united the community instead of driving it apart. "We have been living together happily for 40 years and we will continue doing so for many, many more years."