Neighbour killer also wounded son

An Asian man who killed his BNP activist neighbour in a long-running dispute has also been convicted of attacking the activist's son.

Habib Khan, 50, of Uttoxeter Road, Normacot, Stoke-on-Trent, stabbed Keith Brown, 52, with a kitchen knife last year, Stafford Crown Court heard.

Khan was convicted of Mr Brown's manslaughter last week.

On Wednesday the jury also found him guilty of wounding his son Ashley Barker.

Sentencing will take place at a later date.

Khan's son Azir Saddique, 24, was found not guilty of attacking Mr Barker. His other son, 27-year-old Khazir Saddique, had already pleaded guilty to unlawful wounding.

'Tragic result'

The trial earlier heard that Khan said he had held a knife against Mr Brown "to scare him" when he saw him trying to strangle his son Azir.

He also told the court that living next door to Mr Brown for five years had been "hell".

"Whatever the circumstances, people should not take the law into their own hands"
Ch Insp Carl Ratcliffe

An investigation by the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) into previous contact between Staffordshire Police, Khan and Mr Brown is ongoing.

Ch Insp Carl Ratcliffe, of Staffordshire Police, said the force had carried out the investigation into Mr Brown's death in a "thorough and impartial" way.

He said: "This was fundamentally a dispute between next-door neighbours which descended into violence with a tragic result.

"We extend our sympathies to Mr Brown's family, and everyone else touched by these terribly sad events.

"Knives can kill, and their use can never be condoned. Whatever the circumstances, people should not take the law into their own hands."

'Devastating effect'

Michael Coleman, a BNP councillor from Stoke-on-Trent, told reporters outside the court that Khan should have been convicted of murder and accused the justice system of being corrupt.

He said: "If you have the wrong colour skin, justice is impossible."

Mr Coleman added that Khan's defence team had "used politics and race to devastating effect".

Mohammed Gulzar, chairman of the Ghalani Noor Mosque in Stoke-on-Trent, said: "(Mr Khan) was a respected, religious and helpful person.

"But what triggered him to go that far I can't understand."

A post-mortem examination found Mr Brown died of a single stab wound in the attack on 6 July last year.

Paul Spratt, of the Crown Prosecution Service, said: "The increasing intolerance and animosity between the respective families led to the terrible, tragic consequences the court hears of.

"We, of course, offer our condolences to Mr Browns' family."

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