Three men cleared of Isiah Young-Sam murder

Three men who were accused of murdering a council worker (Isiah Young-Sam) during the Birmingham race riots, have been cleared of all charges brought against them.

Waqhar Ahmed aged 29, Azhil Khan, 26 and Afzhal Khan also aged 26 were cleared of murder, manslaughter and wounding with intent today, at Birmingham crown court.

The three men from Handsworth were convicted in May 2006 for murdering Isiah Young-Sam, 23 and were told they had to serve a minimum sentence of 25 years, but in 2008 an appeal court judge said their convictions should be quashed because evidence had been used wrongly against them during the case.

A re-trial was ordered last year but the jury failed to reach a verdict on the case. When the case was acquitted, earlier today, Young-Sam’s family protested in a wild rage claiming that justice had not been done.

The court heard that violent riots plagued the streets of Lozells following a speculation that a black girl had been gang raped by a group of Asian men.

Mr Young-Sam was on his way home from work when he was attacked by a gang of armed men, in Carlisle road, and fatally stabbed in the heart. Following the attack all three defendants boarded a flight out of the country but were stopped by authorities in Dubai.

Passing sentence in 2006, Mr Justice Mackay said: “The four men (Isaiah, his brother and two friends) were set upon because they were Afro-Caribbean and for no other reason.

“They had done nothing to these defendants and done nothing to incur or justify hostility.

“What led to the death of Isaiah Young-Sam was the colour of his skin.”

The defendants were fuelled by the mob violence which they could have resisted, he added.

Four years later, it now feels as if the defendants have gotten off with the charges they faced, due to technicality. It seems that the courts have failed the families of Isiah Young-Sam. In a week that sees the criminal justice system in the West Midlands fail this family, there is also a failure in Birmingham children’s services, with the case of Khyra Ishaq. Click here to read more