Baldy and Crazy

Imran Shahid, Zeeshan Shahid (Baldy and Crazy) and Faisal Mushtaq went down for a long time yesterday for the sadistic murder of Kriss Donald.

I've always had a sick feeling in my stomach and my heart when hearing the details of his tortuous death. Even sitting in TV studios before interviews yesterday, tears came to my eyes hearing the reporters on the VT again describing how Kriss, who'd already been stabbed 13 times, was writhing around on the grass trying to put out the fire all over his body that the gangsters had lit by dousing petrol all over him.

You have to salute his mother Angela for showing maximum dignity during this whole affair. Even in the aftermath of his death, when it would have been so easy for her to lash out, she told the BNP to get the hell out of Pollokshields when they came looking for revenge.

This was a racially aggravated crime, but this was no simple case of racial supremacists. They did pick Kriss out because he was white, in a grotesque form of collective punishment, but their reign of terror in Pollokshields had victims of all colours.

Legend surrounds the antics of Baldy and Crazy stretching back over a decade. On one occasion they are said to have chopped off the thumbs of a guy who went out with their sister. Many, many people were beaten to pulps. They operated with a mafia style elusiveness when it came to the arm of the law. The sadism meted out to Kriss did not come out of the blue. Their crimes had been building up to this for a long time. There was almost a sad inevitability about it.

They went about in a culture of impunity for ages. Despite this, Baldy had been sentenced to two-and-a-half-years in Feb 2003 for another attack. But only a year later he butchered Kriss. Serious questions need to be asked of the criminal justice system.

I do believe that the brothers were a one-off. I've heard senior Asians blaming themselves for the tragedy. I'm not sure what they or we could have done. All Asians can't take ownership of Baldy and Crazy just because they share the same skin colour. This country has seen disgusting murders take place before. We don't even analyse the murderers families, let alone distant relatives, so why should all Asians take the rap for Kriss's death?

People have asked questions about the gang-culture in Pollokshields. We need to separate out the unique evil that the brothers and their accomplices represented. Sure Pollokshields has its share of crime, as other towns with similar social conditions have. It doesn't mean there will be another Kriss Donald however.

There have been indirect claims from police that they are scared to lift Asian troublemakers in Pollokshields lest the racist card be played. I find this hard to believe. For one, as I even wrote about yesterday, police are not afraid to approach "Asian looking" people, and indeed the government has created a climate where this is acceptable.

Secondly, I would be flabbergasted if it's the case that the police have evidence of criminality but do not act because someone is Asian - if that's what they're saying, this needs to be investigated, and I for one simply do not believe it. The excuse of fearing a political correctness backlash only washes if police are suggesting they want to go on random fishing expeditions. This simply will not do. I've seen anti-social behaviour myself in Pollokshields. I've called the police when I've seen it. There are CCTV cameras up. Asians first and foremost expect them to act.

Comments

[Martin]

Osama,

I agree with you absolutely that this murder was probably one of those hideous one-offs which happens from time to time. The police and criminal justice systems usually can't prevent them.

In this case it is probably pointless to complain about the rules which allow for early release of prisoners and which permitted Imran Shahid to be on the streets, because Lord Uist's narration of their previous convictions makes it pretty clear that he would have killed someone sooner or later. One previous High Court conviction is usually enough for all but the most seriously committed criminal - but two?

However, there is an aspect of this case that has not been properly discussed, and it's important regradless of race. Although they picked Kriss because he was white it was reported that the Shielders had been engaged in a feud with a white gang called the Young Street Mad Squad.

Osama, in many ways this is a very Glaswegian crime, of a type that was common long before South Asian immigration - the violence wrought during the turf wars fought by the razor gangs in the '30's.

That Kriss was white was one motive - but that they associated him with a gang (to which he did not belong) seems to have been another.

All gang culture, Black, White, Asian, Chinese, is deplorable. It inevitably leads to trouble.

If senior Asians are blaming themselves, I can't think why. I don't think anyone seriously expects all Asians to assume responsibility for the Shielders' crimes.

But if gang culture starts to develop, then it does become a community responsibility to stamp it out - and that rule applies regardless of which community the gang originates from.

[Ramon]

Sorry to say but it really is happening that some thugs are hiding behind the racist card. Two gay friends who ran a shop were getting severe homophobic aggravation from the Iraqi shopowner next door. The police would do nothing because " he's a muslim - we're not getting involved". It finally ended with the Iraqi smashing their shop window - the incident was caught on CCTV but the local Edinburgh police told them that even with CCTV they daren't arrest an Iraqi muslim because "he even says the word racism and were suspended" . My friends were disgusted, sold up and left the country. It's nothing new - in the 90's there was a very strong gay drugs network in Edinburgh that was avoiding police interference because of the homophobia card.

[Sohaib]

Martin, thank you. You made sense.

[DrM]

These guys should have gotten the death penality. No ifs, ands or buts about it. So Marty, got any pakis to beat up this weekend, or are we take a week off from taking down eight year olds?

[Martin]

DrM,

Putting aside the fact that you have managed to lower the tone of a serious debate on an extremely serious topic by lobbing in an already refuted slur, one of my very serious concerns about the case has been the balance of some of the reporting.

Yes, race was critical to the commission of the offence - but Glaswegian gang culture seems to have been equally important. In my opinion both should be addressed in equal measure.

The mention of race, which when push comes to shove is literally the most superficial of intra-human differences, tends to sensationalise any subject into which it's introduced. It sells newspapers.

But Kriss Donald's death also seems to have come as much from a cultural problem which has existed in Glasgow for many, many decades - and that side of the issue has not received the critique it deserves.

Failure to tell the whole truth is a form of lying; and as a citizen, democrat and former criminal justice professional, it annoys me that the Young Street Mad Squad's role in reported gang violence in Pollokshields' hasn't thus far been put through the ringer.

[Martin]

By the way, DrM, on the above comment, your e-mail address is listed as dhhasdh@aol.com - but on the undernoted comment it appears as hjfspoj@aol.com -

http://www.osamasaeed.org/osama/2006/11/jack_straw_driv.html#comment-24834896

On this one it's jfposfhw@aol.com-

http://www.osamasaeed.org/osama/2006/11/jack_straw_driv.html#comment-24863763

On this one it's dhoia@aol.com -

http://www.osamasaeed.org/osama/2006/11/jack_straw_driv.html#comment-24877476

On this one it's hsdfhj@aol.com -

http://www.osamasaeed.org/osama/2006/11/jack_straw_driv.html#comment-24882604

On this one it's fhsio@aol.com -

http://www.osamasaeed.org/osama/2006/11/jack_straw_driv.html#comment-24892290

On this one it's fhsh@aol.com -

http://www.osamasaeed.org/osama/2006/11/jack_straw_driv.html#comment-24921209

You appear to have quoted a different e-mail address for every single comment on that thread, which begs the question - how many of you are there?

[Veritas]

Thank you Osama, Sohaib, and Martin for a balanced and sane response to this tragedy.

[DrM]

Ah Marty, you just don't get it do you? Try emailing me and I might take you seriously. Then again, maybe not troll boy.

[Martin]

DrM,

I have just remembered who you remind me of.

During the late 1970's and early 1980's there was a very popular TV show called 'Buck Rogers in the 25th Century'.

Buck, the hero, had a sidekick called Twiki (pronounced 'Tweaky').

For those unfamiliar with the show, Twiki was a robot (well, actually a dwarf in a tin suit) whose alleged charm derived from the fact that he spoke in gibberish - 'OK Buck, chubbalubbanucka (whistling sound), let's fight the aliens!'

After a while his gibberish became charmless and tedious.

You remind me of Twiki.