Amin Mubarek: Son raised fears

Zahid Mubarek, 19, told his father he thought Robert Stewart was "weird".

Giving evidence at the public inquiry into the March 2000 murder, Amin Mubarek said he got the impression that his son believed Stewart to be racist.

Zahid had been sent to the Feltham Young Offenders' Institution, west London for three months for theft.

But just hours before his release, in the early hours of 21 March 2000, he was battered to death in an unprovoked attack.

Stewart, now 24 and from Greater Manchester, is serving a life sentence for the killing and has been diagnosed as a psychopath. Stewart was also later found to have written scores of racist letters to friends.

ZAHID'S IMPRESSION Robert Stewart would just stand there looking at him all day long - he said he had an RIP tattoo and was racist, he mentioned that he has asked to be moved Amin Mubarek

Questioned by Patrick O'Connor QC, counsel for the family, Amin Mubarek said his family had been devastated when his son was sent to Feltham Young Offenders' Institution for stealing �6 of razor blades and interfering with a car.

However he said his son tried to reassure his parents that he was doing fine and would be able to put together his life on his release. Although he had not excelled at school, the teenager was considering a career in the army and had application forms at home.

During his three month sentence, Zahid wrote frequently to members of his family and spoke to his father every other day by phone.

Mr Mubarek said he visited his son four times during the sentence. On the final visit, two days before the killing, Zahid had told his dad "don't be late" for his scheduled release.

Mood change

On the third visit came after Robert Stewart was moved into the same cell in February 2000. It was during this visit he said he had twice asked to move cell.

Zahid Mubarek: "Bottled up" feelings

"He mentioned Robert Stewart would just stand there looking at him all day long. He said he was a bit weird. He said he had an RIP tattoo and was racist. He mentioned that he had asked to be moved."

Mr Justice Keith, chairman of the inquiry, asked Mr Mubarek if he was absolutely sure that his son had said Stewart was racist. This was the first time that this had emerged, said the judge.

Mr Mubarek agreed it was possible that he had gained the impression that Zahid thought Stewart was a racist from other things his son had said about his cellmate.

Zahid had wanted to "keep everything hidden" out of fear of alarming his parents, he said.

'Treated differently'

Mr Mubarek said he felt the family had felt they were treated differently to white visitors when they had visited the prison.

"They [the officers] were a bit harsh," he said. "The way you got pushed around like you were a prisoner yourself. It is just their attitude, the way they looked at you."

Speaking after the hearing, Mr Mubarek insisted that whatever fears his son had expressed, the family believed the Prison Service had let Zahid down.

"If he was a white prisoner this would never have happened - simple as that. He shouldn't have been in the cell with Robert Stewart."

In a statement to the inquiry, Zahid's mother Sajida said her son had been a "nice lad" who no-one had cause to complain about.

"He had spoken on the previous visit asking me to make a nice curry meal for him when he was released and did not expect me to visit as a result. However, he changed his mind and asked me to come and visit and I didn't want to let him down.

"I should like to say that I remember Zahid as a nice lad who no one complained about."