By Christian Gysin
Last updated at 5:56 PM on 29th May 2008
Habib Khan was cleared of the murder of Keith Brown, 52, after the pair had been involved in a long running feud
The BNP is attempting to recruit new members by highlighting the case of a 'white martyr' killed by a Muslim elder during a neighbourhood dispute.
Father-of-six Habib Khan, 50, was cleared of murder after Stafford Crown Court heard he had suffered years of abuse.
The jury instead convicted him of 52-year-old Keith Brown's manslaughter - and warned he faces a prison when he returns to Stafford Crown Court for sentencing.
But immediately after his trial ended Michael Coleman, a BNP councillor and organiser of the party's Stoke-on-Trent branch, said: 'We advise anyone who gets angry - get involved with the BNP.'
It emerged that Mr Brown approached the far right party after seeking help from a BNP member of the Stoke council as his dispute escalated.
In a further attempt by the BNP to highlight tensions between Muslims and whites the funeral of Mr Brown was then posted on the YouTube site.
His coffin was carried by six BNP councillors and around the country the BNP is planning to highlight cases of Muslim and white tensions.
The BNP has repeatedly tried to portray Mr Brown - who delivered election leaflets - as a 'white martyr'.
On one British BNP internet forum a writer described Mr Brown as ' the first nationalist victim of Islamic jihad against Great Britain, stabbed in the back by cowardly invaders. Your name will live on forever.'
Enlarge The houses where Keith Brown (right) and Habib Khan (left) lived on Uttoxeter Road in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire
Khan was found guilty of manslaughter last Friday before a jury returned after 13 hours of deliberations this week to also convict him of wounding Mr Brown's 20-year-old son in the build up to the fatal stabbing.
During the two week trial the court heard that Mr Brown - a former boxer and friend of BNP leader Nick Griffin - had convictions for 'extreme violence'.
Judge Simon Tonking told Khan, of Normacot, Stoke-on-Trent, his case would be adjourned for reports and warned : 'Plainly, I shall be bound to pass a custodial sentence.'
While Khan was convicted of wounding Mr Brown's son Ashley - also a BNP activist - his own son Azir Saddique was cleared by the jury of wounding the same man.
However 24-year-old Saddique , from Longton, Staffordshire, was jailed for a day for breaching his bail by absconding to Pakistan before the trial.
BNP councillor Michael Coleman asked reporters whether a verdict of manslaughter would have been returned if Mr Brown had killed Khan
The jury heard Mr Brown died after being stabbed in the back on July 6, last year, following what Khan described as 'four years of hell' when he 'endured racism, threats and violence.'
Kebab shop owner Khan claimed Mr Brown fell onto an eight-inch knife he used to 'frighten but not kill' his victim.
Khan, who both worshipped and taught at his local Mosque, was found guilty of manslaughter by reason of lack of intent.
His eldest son, Khazir Saddique, 26, also from Longton, admitted unlawfully wounding Mr Barker before the trial and will be sentenced with his father on a date to be fixed.
It emerged during the trial that Mr Brown took exception to building work carried out by Khan in Uttoxeter Road, Stoke.
While Mr Brown lived with his girlfriend and seven children in an ageing terraced home his Muslim neighbour had created a grand villa next door .
Khan's 'miniature palace' included carved stone pillars, a balcony and large ceramic decorative pots in the front garden.
Their dispute escalated and centred on a fence Mr Brown claimed intruded onto his land and he also believed a Conservatory erected by Khan blocked his light.
The two families had clashed previously over an access road close to their properties.
But the court also heard Brown was a dangerous man with convictions for 'extreme violence' and more recently was convicted in 2000 for punching a man in the face.
Enlarge This image was released by Habib Khan's defence team to show the injuries sustained from an attack by Keith Brown's son
It was when he turned to his local authority for help that Mr Brown was introduced to Steve Bakin who was at the time the sole BNP member on Stoke council.
The councillor took a DVD to police which reportedly showed an Asian man kicking out at Mr Brown from the Khan's side of the fence.
During last month's Stoke elections the BNP received nearly 8,000 votes and were only beaten by Labour's 11,000 as the far right party won an extra three seats to now total nine on the council.
Speaking after the case, Chief Inspector Carl Ratcliffe, of Stoke-on-Trent police, said the killing was the tragic result of a violent dispute between next-door neighbours, adding:
' Knives can kill and their use can never be condoned. Whatever the circumstances, people should not take the law into their own hands.'
But BNP councillor Michael Coleman, who knew Mr Brown whose funeral was attended by BNP leader Nick Griffin, asked reporters whether a verdict of manslaughter would have been returned if Mr Brown had stabbed Khan in the back and killed him.
'I am shocked and appalled at the judgment,' he went on.
'We do believe it was a clear-cut case of murder. Politics was brought into it, as was race, and that perverted the entire process of the court.
'If Keith Brown had killed Habib Khan, I have no doubt it would have been treated as a racial murder.'
However, at the Mosque to which Khan belonged the treasurer Mohammed Hanif said some Muslim worshippers had to endure living next door to whites who 'didn't like it at all that they had coloured Asian neighbours.'
the article above is from the daily mail, just shows how the truth can be distorted so much that it looks like keith was the actual agressor,bnp only involved to recruit ect... this type of media reporting is unfair, biased and what we all come to expect.. oh to live in a democracy with free speech and fair representation, does such a place exist?
rest in peace kieth and your family are in all of our thoughts over the festive period and beyond, for you and many others we pledge to continue our fight to combat the injustices being put upon our people
Dec 29, 2008 @ 13:46:00
