One of the racist killers of schoolboy Kriss Donald could be freed later this year after 20 years in prison.
Daanish Zahid, 40, listened to Kriss’s screams as three other men viciously stabbed him and set him on fire – but did nothing to help the 15-year-old as he fought for his life.
Kriss was kidnapped and killed 20 years ago today in a racially aggravated murder that was Scotland’s first to be prosecuted under race crime laws.
His distraught family have been told that Zahid is eligible for ‘limited access to the community’ – which could include work placements – to ‘test’ his suitability for possible release, which could happen later this year.
It will be up to the Parole Board for Scotland (PBS) to decide whether Zahid is ultimately freed – a move that would prove controversial as Kriss’s murder sparked months of racial tension.
Kriss Donald was stabbed and set on fire
Last night, a friend of the Donald family said they had been told about Zahid’s parole eligibility.
The friend said they ‘hope to have a peaceful and respectful remembrance of the 20th anniversary of the 15 years that we had with our wonderful Kriss’.
The other killers – Imran Shahid, 47, his brother Zeeshan, 45, and Mohammed Faisal Mushtaq, 45 – were jailed for life in 2006.
Shopkeeper Zahid was jailed for life for a minimum of 17 years in 2004 and was later called as a witness at the trial of Shahid and his two accomplices.
He refused to name the men as the killers, claiming he feared for his life. Zahid was charged with trying to pervert the course of justice but it was later dropped.
Kriss’s mother Angela told the Mail at the time: ‘It is sickening that he sat there during that trial and failed to tell the truth to save his own skin and yet they have dropped the charge against him.’
The Shahids and Mushtaq were jailed for a total of at least 70 years for Kriss’s ‘cold-blooded execution’.
At their 2006 trial, Zahid was a witness and repeatedly refused to answer questions about the abduction and killing.
He did tell the High Court in Edinburgh that the ‘real culprits’ were not in the dock and that he would like to reveal their identities but said: ‘My life is worth more to me than that.’
Zahid later gave evidence during Imran Shahid’s 2011 appeal against his conviction. Judges threw out the appeal after concluding Zahid had lied.
Angela Donald claimed Zahid tried ‘to save his own skin’
Daanish Zahid could be freed later this year after 20 years in prison
Imran Shahid was jailed for life in 2006
Zahid, whose minimum of 17 years behind bars ended in 2021, was jailed for another six years to run consecutively after he admitted attempting to defeat the ends of justice.
He has reached the halfway point of the six-year term, meaning he is eligible for parole.
Kriss was last seen alive as he was bundled into a car by the Shahids and their helpers near his home in Pollokshields, Glasgow, on March 15, 2004.
He was targeted simply because he was white and lived in the area.
After driving around for several hours, the gang dragged Kriss from the stolen Mercedes, stabbed him 13 times, doused him in petrol and set him on fire while he was still alive.
His charred, half-naked body was found near Celtic FC’s training ground in Glasgow’s East End the following day.
Zahid, a first offender, was unanimously convicted by a jury of the racially aggravated murder and jailed in December, 2004.
The Shahids and Mushtaq spent months on the run in Pakistan.
Imran Shahid was ordered to spend at least 25 years behind bars.
Zeeshan Shahid was jailed for a minimum of 23 years, while Mushtaq will remain in jail for at least 22 years.
After the guilty verdicts were delivered, it emerged that Imran Shahid – described as a ‘sadistic’ thug by the trial judge – had killed Kriss after being released early from a 30-month jail term for assaulting a female social worker and driving a car at her.
The PBS and the Scottish Prison Service declined to comment.
