Friday, August 29, 2008

An Asian man who killed his British National Party activist neighbor in a fight has been jailed for eight years

Habib Khan, 50, of Stoke-on-Trent, was convicted in May 2008 of the manslaughter of 52-year-old Keith Brown who he stabbed with a kitchen knife in July 2007. The two men had been involved in a long-running dispute over land. Stafford Crown Court was told Khan had killed Mr Brown in a fight outside their homes in Uttoxeter Road, Normacot. The court heard that in the incident last July, Khan held a knife against his neighbor. A post-mortem examination found Brown died from a single stab wound. Khan, described by a Muslim colleague as a respected, religious and helpful person, was also found guilty of wounding Brown's son, Ashley Barker, during the fight. Khan's other son, Kazir Saddique, was sentenced to a year in prison and a year on licence after admitting unlawful wounding. At a news conference outside the court, Brown's widow Julia said she felt justice had not been done. She said: "At the end of the day, it should have been murder not manslaughter. If he did not have the intention to go out and murder he should not have taken the knife out." Local BNP councillor, Martin Coleman, told reporters the party would start a campaign to expose what has gone on in court and said he viewed the case as insanity and madness. He added: "It bears no relationship with any form of justice that I understand, can understand recognise or accept. We've got a man who has been murdered in the street. Someone has ran out into the public street with a knife and murdered a man and the judge says there's literally no case to answer. I think what we've witnessed here is an outrageous betrayal of justice." Khan denied murdering Brown but was convicted of manslaughter on 23 May, 2008.

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