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Kriss Donald was born on July 2, 1988 to parents Angela & Alex & lived in Glasgow, Scotland. When he was a young boy, Kriss’ parents divorced & his dad relocated to Portsmouth while he & his mom stayed in Glasgow with his older sister. Angela described him as her “blue eyed angel.” As time went on, Angela welcomed another son & two daughters into the family. Kriss was very close with his family & adored their dog Jack which he referred to as the “man of the house.”
Kriss was a good kid who stayed out of trouble. His friends gave him the nickname “Krypto” & he loved playing video games & was a huge fan of the Rangers Football Club. He kept up good grades but as a typical 15-year-old, he by no means loved school.
On Monday, March 15, 2004, Donald told his mom that he had a sore throat & asked her if he could stay home from school that day. Angela was having a rough morning since her two younger girls got into a can of green paint & covered themselves & the dogs with it. Angela agreed to let Kriss stay home from school that day if he would help her clean up the mess. That afternoon, he told his mom that he was feeling much better & asked if he could go to his friend’s house, 19-year-old Jaime Wallace, to pick up a video game. Angela told him that he could go if grabbed the game & came straight back. Angela didn’t want the neighbors to see Kriss out during the day & wonder why he wasn’t at school. He quickly slipped on his shoes & headed out the door.
What Angela & Kriss would have had no way of knowing was that the night before, a 29-year-old man named Imran Shahid who went by the nickname “Baldy” because of his distinctive shaved head or sometimes bleached hair, had been out in a Glasgow nightclub having drinks. Baldy was a bodybuilder who viewed himself a tough guy & had gotten out of prison only three months earlier after a 30-month sentence for a road rage attack on a 42-year-old woman who he tried to run over. He was initially from Huddersfield, England & grew up in Pollokshields with his four brothers & three sisters. He had an extensive criminal record that included physical assault, drug & driving offenses. When he was 17, he attacked a 25-year-old man with a baseball bat, leaving him permanently brain damaged. He took great joy in harassing those that were younger, smaller & more vulnerable than him. Despite his large, muscular frame, he was mostly viewed as a joke around Glasgow which made him exceptionally angry.
In the 1990s, racial tensions in the south of Glasgow were high, notably in the area of the Pollokshields where Pakistani gangs would fight with Scottish gangs. In addition to racist violence, the gangs had a reputation for car theft, drug dealing, credit card scams & overall disruptive behavior.
As Baldy wrapped up his night out on Sunday, March 14, he recognized a group of young men from a rival gang known as the McCulloch Street Team. The group began to taunt & make fun of Baldy & once outside, there was an altercation that involved him getting hit in the head with a bottle. As Baldy ran after them, they were able to jump into a car & escape. As they drove away, they yelled out the window at Baldy, humiliating him in front of a group of on-lookers. As the night wore on, rather than calming down, his anger only grew & not only did he want revenge, but he also wanted to do something to prove that he was someone not to be messed with.
The next day, Monday, March 15, Baldy was hanging out with a group of his gang members in the flat of 27-year-old Mohammed Faisal Mushtaq who was known as “Becks.” Baldy was furiously calling around to anyone that could identify the members of the McCulloch Street Team so he could get his revenge. Soon, Baldy & Becks were joined by Baldy’s brother 28-year-old Zeeshan “Crazy” Shahid, 22-year-old Zahid “Ziggy” Mohammed & 22-year-old Daanish “Ferrari” Zahid. The five men were known as “The Shielders” & Baldy was the leader of the pack.
Baldy instructed the group to place tools into a blue bag which ended up holding a hammer, a screwdriver, a sharpened knife as well as other items. They were going to head out in search of the McCulloch Street Team so they could “chop them up & take their eyes out.”
Before they headed out, Baldy dyed his distinctive blond hair back to black so he would be less likely identified. At 2:42 pm, he, Crazy, Ziggy & Ferrari called a taxi to take them to the West End of Glasgow so they could pick up a stolen Mercedes. Becks was told to stay behind at the flat so he could pick them up when they called.
At 3:08 pm Baldy called Becks & told him to be ready with the blue bag of tools & they picked him up. There were now five men in the car. Baldy instructed the group to keep their eyes out for any “white bastards” that looked like a member of the McColloch group. They were starting to get restless when they saw no sign of the gang. This was when they noticed two boys walking on Kenmure Street & Baldy demanded the car be stopped, saying, “I’m doing them!” Because they couldn’t find specific members of the gang, they decided to choose an example of a “white boy from the McCulloch Street area.” As Kriss & Jaime innocently walked along, discussing video games, they were ambushed despite having nothing to with the incident from the previous night. Jaime recognized Baldy, but Kriss had no idea what he was talking about
Jaime managed to escape but Kriss, who stood at 5’7” & weighed about 126# was punched into submission & forced into the car despite frantically trying to grab the door frame to save himself. Kriss was stunned & confused as he shouted, “I’m only 15, what did I do?” A knee was smashed into his back as he was forced head-first into the car & repeatedly punched as Jaime watched in horror. The gang shouted, “White bastards!” as they attacked Kriss. Baldy turned toward Jaime & said, “Do you know what pain is?? You’re next!”
As quickly as the car arrived, it sped away with Baldy’s brother Crazy at the wheel. Jaime was hysterical & frantically ran to get help. His grandmother just so happened to be standing at the window of her top floor flat & was running down the stairs. A neighbor ran to inform Angela of what happened to her son & the police were called.
By 3:28 pm, the Strathclyde Police were made aware of what happened & given a brief description of who had abducted Kriss & a thorough description of Baldy. Kriss had aspirations of joining the Army or becoming a mechanic. He was an innocent teenager who avoided confrontation & just happened to be out walking with his friend that day.
As the gang drove, they continued to assault Kris & demanded he give the names & whereabouts of the McColloch Street Team while Kriss continued to insist that he did not know them let alone where they were. He begged them to let him go as Baldy shouted, “I’m Baldy! Nobody Fs with me!” He held up the blue bag & threatened Kriss that there was a “shooter” inside. The group made phone call after phone call, trying to find a spot to bring Kriss. They drove 200 miles to Dundee & Baldy’s anger only grew as they were unable to find a private location. Time was running out; it was nearly 6 pm & Ziggy wore an electronic monitor & it was approaching his curfew which he’d recently been given for carrying a knife. Before they returned to the city, they stopped off to fill a gas can.
They dropped Ziggy off & continued to discuss where they could take Kriss. It was suggested that they go to the Clyde Walkway which is a nature trail. They arrived at about 7:19 pm & it’s unknown what happened in the twenty minutes between this time & 7:39 pm, but at some point, they dragged Kriss who was restrained, out of the car & brutally stabbed him 13 times, puncturing his lung, stomach, kidney & intestines, severing three of his arteries. One of his ribs was cut in half & as they let go of him, he slumped against a tree trunk in agony. While he was still alive, the four men doused Kriss in gasoline & set him on fire. Afterwards, they quickly fled the scene, speeding away in the stolen car, driving it to a back lane near Glasgow University. The car was later found, abandoned & also burned in another area of Glasgow. They’d also burned the clothes they were wearing that day in an attempt to hide evidence. The men’s cell phones had fallen silent at approximately 7 pm & started back up again twenty minutes later.
After the four monsters drove off, Kriss managed to move himself from the tree trunk to a grassy slope that led to a walking path. He tried to roll himself in mud in an attempt to extinguish the fire & this is where he was found the next morning by a passerby. Kriss died from blood loss & 70% of his body had been badly burned. The majority of his clothes had been burned away & he was wearing only one shoe.
In the days after Kriss’ abduction & murder, flowers & tributes were left in the area of Kenmure Street where he had been abducted. The news of Kriss’ brutal murder caused outrage & the Muslim community was concerned there would be a revenge attack on innocent members of the public.
Despite setting the Mercedes on fire, police were able to recover blood from the car that was a match to Kriss Donald. DNA evidence was recovered from a rolled up leather jacket that had been inside the car that belonged to Baldy as well as Kriss’ discarded shoe.
In the meantime, Baldy, his brother Crazy & Becks had all fled to Pakistan. Ziggy & Ferrari were arrested soon after & charged with murder. Ferrari was the first person to be convicted of a racially motivated murder in Scotland & was found guilty on November 18, 2004. He was sentenced to life in prison with the recommendation of serving at least 17 years. Ziggy, who had been dropped off before Kriss was murdered, admitted to his involvement in the abduction as well as lying to police during the investigation & served five years in prison. He was released after serving half of his sentence & returned to court to provide evidence against Baldy, Crazy & Becks.
It was months before Baldy, Crazy & Becks were located in Pakistan with the intervention of Mohammed Sarwar, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Glasgow Central. The three men were arrested in Pakistan in July 2005 & extradited back to the UK in October 2005. There is no extradition treaty between Pakistan & Britain but the Pakistani authorities agreed to their extradition. They arrived in Scotland on October 5 & were charged with Kriss Donald’s murder the following day. The trial began on October 2, 2006, one year later & more than 2.5 years after Kriss had been murdered. They all pleaded not guilty.
After 28 days with a jury of six men & nine women, after eight & a half hours of deliberation, on November 8, 2006 all three men were found guilty of the racially motivated murder of Kriss Donald. They all received a sentence of life in prison & 29-year-old Baldy was given a minimum sentence of 25 years, his brother, 28-year-old Crazy was given a minimum of 23 years & 27-year-old Becks was given a minimum of 22 years. Prosecutors described what happened to Kriss as an “appalling crime of inhumanity against a defenseless boy.” None of the murderers uttered a word of apology & showed zero sign of remorse.
During the sentencing, Judge Lord Uist addressed the men & said, “You have all been convicted of the racially aggravated abduction & murder of Kriss Donald – a wholly innocent 15-year-old boy of slight build. He was selected as your victim only because he was white & walking a certain part of the Pollokshields area of Glasgow when you sought out a victim.” As they were led away, Kriss’ mom Angela shouted, “You bastards!” She expressed her thanks to the people & police responsible for bringing her son’s killers to justice & said, “Justice has been done. Thank you. It is over.”
The BBC has been criticized by some viewers for only featuring the case on national news three times & the first trial was later largely confined to regional Scottish bulletins, including the verdict itself. Instead, the network chose to focus on the opening of a new arts center. The second trial was also not covered on its main bulletins & it wasn’t until the 18th day of the trial that anything was reported.
Peter Fahy, who is a spokesperson for racial issues for the Association of Chief Police Officers, noted that the media as a whole tends to under-report the racist murder of white members of society, especially young white men. Even before Kriss’ murder, tensions had been growing between the community & after the fact, the white community in Glasgow indicated they felt ignored & forgotten. Members of the public feared that it was only a matter of time before something terrible happened as a result of the anger & tensions.
Angela spoke out to the public & made a plea that the community come together to honor Kriss’ & this helped dispel some of the issues. Mark Easton, an editor for BBC News called the murders of Kriss Donald & Ross Parker a demonstration of how society has been forced to redefine racism & discard the erroneous definition of Prejudice Plus Power, a definition which only allows ethnic minorities to be the victims of hate crimes. Ross Parker was a 17-year-old boy from England who was murdered in an unprovoked murder after he was beaten with a hammer, stabbed & repeatedly kicked by a gang of British Pakistani men on September 21, 2001 when racial tensions in the area were high after the September 11th attacks ten days earlier.
Kriss’ funeral was held on April 30, 2004 & his aunt paid tribute to him saying, “We know your life was ended soon, but your death has touched the nation.” Kriss’ favorite football team, the Rangers, signed a jersey that was laid across his coffin before he was buried in Linn Cemetery in Glasgow. A tribute plaque was placed on the railings of Kenmure Street & a memorial bench was placed at the spot where he passed away on the Clyde Walkway. The bench has his birth & death dates as well as the message, “The hearts that loved you the most are the ones that will never forget. Till we meet again, beautiful boy. Mum, Sam, Laurie, Taylor, Amber x x x x x.”
After serving only 2.5 years of his 5 year sentence, Zahid “Ziggy” Mohammed was released from prison & quickly changed his name to Yusef Harris. In 2017, he was sent back to prison for four years after threatening to murder a man who demanded to know why he had four teenagers locked in his car. He was also charged with carrying a knife & driving his car toward police officers.
In September of 2008, Zeeshan “Crazy” Shahid was relocated within the prison for his own safety after fellow prisoners were making threats toward him. He’d previously been moved from other prisons for the same reason.
While Daanish “Ferrari” Zahid was serving time for Kriss’ murder, he had six years added to his sentence in 2015 for obstruction of justice after he admitted to lying.
Imran “Baldy” Sahid remained a bully in prison as much as he was on the outside. He was nearly killed in 2013 when three fellow inmates attacked him with a metal bar, stomped on him & threw a 33# weight on his head as he worked out in the prison gym. His teeth, jaw & cheekbones were shattered during the attack. In 2015, he won a human rights appeal after he complained that he was kept in solitary confinement for prolonged time. He spent four years & eight months in segregation but only 14 months of that time had been unlawful. He had been placed in solitary confinement for his own safety, but the judges said consideration should have been given to moving him to another prison within the UK. The judge ruled that he wouldn’t be eligible for damages. In February of 2022, he slashed his own throat in attempts to kill himself to protect his family from revenge attacks.
Residents within the area where Kriss had been so senselessly & brutally killed could not comprehend the level of violence. One man remembers the case & says, “Kriss Donald’s name must always be remembered, whilst those of his killers, one day turn to dust.”
References:
- The Scottish Sun: Monster race hate murderer Imran ‘Baldy’ Shahid claims he tried to kill himself in jail to protect family from revenge attacks
- True Crime with Caledonian Kitty: Targeted: The Kriss Donald Story
- BBC News: Kriss Donald killer Imran Shahid wins human rights appeal
- The Guardian: Three jailed for life for race murder of schoolboy
- Scottish Daily Express: Kriss Donald murder: Top Scots defense lawyer Aamer Anwar remembers brutal racist killing 18-years on
- Medium: They murdered a teenager because he was white
- Wikipedia: Murder of Ross Parker
