Targeted: The Kriss Donald Story | Part four

(Kriss's memorial bench on the Clyde walkway where his body was found. Photo credit: The Scotsman)

Continued from part three...

On the 30th of April 2004, Kriss's funeral took place. Family and friends along with 50 of Kriss's school friends from Bellahouston Academy in Glasgow attended. There was said to be hundreds of people in attendance at the service in the Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints church. His auntie paid tribute to him by saying ''We know your life was ended soon but your death has touched this nation.'' 

Kriss's favourite football team Rangers had signed a football shirt which had laid across his coffin with some flowers. Kriss was buried in Linn Cemetery in Glasgow, Scotland. 

Along with a tribute plaque that was placed on the railings of Kenmure Street, a memorial bench was placed at the scene where Kriss had passed away. In the heartbreaking picture above you can see the tree trunks in the background and the short journey that Kriss had taken from them to where the memorial bench is situated. It's very upsetting to think about a 15 year boy, even a fully grown adult having to go through all of that pain and suffering. 

The plaque on the bench has a little picture of Kriss with the words: ''In loving memory of Kriss. Born 2-7-88. Died 15-3-04. The hearts that loved you most are the ones that will never forget. Till we meet again beautiful boy. Mum, Sam, Laurie, Taylor, Amber x x x x x.''

Kriss would have turned 31 this year and it's a wonder what he may have been. He could have been married with children of his own or realised his dream of joining the army. He had his whole life in front of him and a family who loved him very much. 

(James Allen from the Scottish band Glasvegas wrote the song, 'Flowers And Football Tops' in dedication to Kriss. On the right: a family picture of Kriss. Photo credit: Glasgow Live

The song Flowers And Football Tops was written in tribute to Kriss by the Scottish band Glasvegas as I mentioned earlier, the fence on kenmure street was covered in flowers and football tops in tribute to Kriss.

Glasvegas paid tribute to Kriss last year on what would have been his 30th birthday. The lead singer of the band posted on Kriss's birthday: ''Kriss Donald Would have been 30 years old today... he was the victim of a racially motivated murder at only 15. I wrote the song 'Flowers And football Tops' in his honour...I'd never met Kriss but the moment I saw his kind, beautiful face in a photograph, I instantly loved him...Anytime I think of Kriss, I don't think of a guy that I've never met, I think of him as my brother. I had the absolute pleasure to meet Kriss's younger brother some years ago in our dressing room after a show we played in Glasgow. Angela, I don't know if you will see this but I love you, Kriss and all of your family forever. Happy birthday Kriss. One love. James x.''

Glasvegas had also previously dedicated their 2008 Philip Hall Radar NME Award to Kriss.

Kriss's family also paid a visit to the memorial bench to pay tribute to Kriss on his 30th birthday.

(Zahid Mohammed now known as Yusef Harris. Photo credit: The Scottish Sun

Zahid 'Ziggy' Mohammed was back on the streets after only serving two and a half years out of his five year sentence for his involvement in Kriss's murder. Upon his release he quickly changed his name to Yusef Harris. It didn't take long for Zahid/Yusef to be back in trouble and he was jailed again in 2017 for four years for threatening to murder a man who demanded to know why he had four teenagers locked in his car. He was also charged with having a knife and driving his car at police officers.

In September of 2008, it was reported that Mohammed Faisal Mushtaq had to be moved to another part of Glenochil Prison in Clackmannanshire for his own safety after other prisoners were making threats against him. Mohammed has been previously moved from other prisons due to various threats from other inmates.

Nothing much has been reported about Zeeshan Shahid but his brother on the other hand has featured in the Scottish newspapers quite a bit over the years.

Daanish Zahid who is already serving time for his involvement in Kriss's murder had another six years added onto his sentence in 2015 after admitting to lying and attempting to defeat the ends of justice.

 (A recent picture of Imran 'Baldy' Shahid. Photo credit: Daily Record

Imran Shahid has continued to be as much of a bully behind bars as he was outside. He was almost killed in 2013 when three fellow inmates hit him with a metal bar, stamped on him and threw a 15kg weight over his head as he was working out in the gym. He suffered a fractured jaw and cheekbone, his teeth were also shattered.

In 2015 he won a human rights right appeal case after complaining that he was kept in solitary confinement for 14 months. The judge ruled in his favour but stated that he would not be eligible for damages.

In 2017 he pretended he was converting to Judaism in an attempt to get better prison food. He threw a tantrum and demanded that the prison officers returned his Xbox and penis pump or he wanted £3000 compensation. He said he needed the penis pump because he was allergic to Viagra and without both of those items he was ''alone in the world.'' He tried to take the matter further and tried to sue the prison officers for taking the Xbox away over fears that he was using it to access the Internet but the Judge threw it out. He was awarded £219.90 for the value of the Xbox but he never saw that money because it went to cover the debt owed to the Scottish Prison Service over fees for the penis pump case.

It's been quite emotional looking back over this case and doing the research. I was living in England at the time of Kriss's murder and because of the lack of proper media coverage, I didn't find out about what happened until years later. It broke my heart then and I didn't really know the full details but now that I do it breaks my heart even more.

He was just a 15 year old boy who was tortured and murdered just because of the colour of his skin. I think about Jamie Wallace and how he must have battled with trauma over the years, seeing his friend being taken away and almost being dragged into the car himself. Kriss's family come across as really strong people and have always appealed for peace. His mother said that it didn't matter what background the killers were from, all she saw was 5 murderers full of hate.

I don't think Glasgow has ever gotten over what happened to Kriss and I don't think any of us who've read about his story ever will. It's important that we never forget what happened to Kriss Donald. All cases where people have been murdered or attacked just for the colour of their skin is sickening and every case should be given the same focus and attention.

As for the murderers, I think they should stay locked up for life. From what I've read, they've not had an easy time in prison, everyone knows what they did and it's followed them around for years.

I hope that people will read what I've written and help keep Kriss's memory alive and not forget about him. He deserves to be remembered and the reminder is that anyone can be a victim of racism and we must not tolerate it.

RIP Kris Donald
RIP Ross Parker
RIP Stephen Lawrence

Further reading and sources:

Murder Of Kriss Donald
Murder Of Ross Parker
Murder Of Stephen Lawrence
Abducted, Stabbed And Set On Fire For Being White - The Scotsman
True Crime Scotland - Kriss Donald
William Crawford Admits Jail Attack on Imran Shahid - BBC News
Race Hate Killer 'Baldy' Moans That He Is 'Alone In This World' After Judge Took Away His Penis Pump And Xbox - The Scottish Sun
Member Of Kriss Donald Abduction Gang Changed Name to Hide Past
Kriss Donald Online Memorial
The Forensic Squad - Too Young To Die (Documentary)
Imran Shahid vs Her Majesty's Advocate

UPDATE: The Daily Record newspaper reported that Imran Shahid had been involved in a fight in prison and had his throat slashed on Sunday the 13th of February 2022. He was rushed to hospital but survived the incident and police are said to be investigating the matter. 

Thank you for reading my posts on this horrific case, I hope you will join me in my next post x

3 comments:

  1. The fact that Zahid Mohammed only got five years and served even less is so gross to me, I don't understand how murders can get less time than people who have drug offenses. I'm glad that Daanish Zahid got more time, but he should have gotten more time in the first place. Imran Shahid I hate to say got only some of what he deserved but karma, and the fact that he is still a bully and still bullying the justice system into getting off is gross, he deserved solitary confinement and more. Why was he allowed to have any of those things in prison, he wasn't there on vacation.

    I think they were looking for someone to torture and murder and they found an easy target, and it's sad because this was a 15 year old boy who had a horrible last minutes of his life because of some pieces of crap who in my opinion shouldn't be alive.

    http://loveiszero.net

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    1. I totally agree! It's crazy over here with the comforts that certain people get over here in prison. Prison is supposed to be a punishment and like you said, not a vacation. It's no wonder that some of these people always end up back in prison because it's like a holiday camp for a lot of them x

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  2. Thank you Jo for your update about Imran Shahid.

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