Racist murderer of grandfather, 82, dies in jail

The racist murderer of an 82-year-old grandfather who also plotted to bomb areas close to West Midlands mosques has died in prison.

Postgraduate student Pavlo Lapshyn stabbed Mohammed Saleem in April 2013 in Birmingham, less than a week after arriving in the UK.

He later appeared at the Old Bailey and pleaded guilty to murder and admitted plotting to cause the blasts near the mosques in Walsall, Tipton and Wolverhampton.

The 37-year-old, originally from Ukraine, died on Tuesday at HMP Wakefield, the Prison Service confirmed. "This was an abhorrent crime and our thoughts remain with Mr Saleem's friends and family," a spokesperson said.

They added the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman would investigate Lapshyn's death, as is routine with deaths in custody.

Self-confessed racist Lapshyn stabbed Mr Saleem as he was on his way home from his mosque in Small Heath, Birmingham.

The killer was jailed for a minimum of 40 years in October 2013, the judge telling him his "extremist, right-wing, white supremacist" views held "no place whatsoever in our multi-faith and multi-cultural society".

At the time, Mr Saleem's family told the BBC in 2013 it was impossible to move on from the "shock and sadness" of their loved one's murder.

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