Germany has been offering programs for people who want to leave the neo-Nazi scene for years. Now, in a bid to combat the threat of Islamist terrorism, authorities are setting up a telephone hotline for those keen to give up jihad.
Could it be that Islamists just need a helping hand to turn their back on extremism? That, at least, is what Germany is hoping -- and has set up a new program to facilitate the process.
Germany's domestic intelligence agency, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, will launch the so-called exit program at the end of June, agency chief Heinz Fromm announced Monday, speaking at the presentation of the service's annual report for 2009 in Berlin. The agency is to set up a telephone hotline that militant Islamists can call if they want to leave radical Islamist groups. Multilingual specialists will be available to give potential quitters advice in Turkish or Arabic, as well as German, Fromm said, without giving further details of the program.
Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière described the scheme as a "valuable preventative effort." Fromm however warned against overly high expectations for the scheme. "We'll have to wait and see if it gets a big response," he said. The agency's programs for neo-Nazis wanting to quit their milieu, which have been running for several years, have only met with moderate success.
'Feelings of Insecurity'
According to the intelligence agency's findings, the number of members and supporters of radical Islamist groups in Germany increased in 2009 by around 5 percent compared to the previous year. Germany now has 29 Islamist organizations with an estimated 36,000 members, the largest of which is the Turkish association Milli Görüs, described by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution as "anti-democratic."
Fromm and de Maizière warned of an ongoing threat to Germany from Islamist terrorism. In 2009, the Office for the Protection of the Constitution registered an "unprecedented" series of Islamist propaganda messages directed at Germany, warning of attacks against German targets if the country did not withdraw its troops from Afghanistan. The messages were intended to influence the outcome of the September 2009 general election. The promised attacks did not, however, materialize. There have been seven serious attempts to carry out Islamist terror attacks in Germany since 2000, according to the agency.
So-called "homegrown" terrorism poses a particular threat in Germany. The members of radical Islamist groups include young Germans who have converted to Islam, a phenomenon de Maizière attributed to "situations of loss and insecurity" during puberty. "Feelings of inferiority" make young people vulnerable to being inducted into the radical Islamist scene, he said.
Violence from Both Sides
The agency also recorded a sharp rise in acts of violence motivated by left-wing extremism in 2009, which rose by more than 50 percent to over 1,100. The number of arson attacks increased from 62 in 2008 to 113 in 2009. Arson attacks on cars in cities such as Berlin and Hamburg have been the focus of much media attention in the last couple of years. Fromm played down the threat of terrorist acts by left-wing extremists, however. Although some people in the far-left scene play with "the idea of attempting something like that, (those ideas) are not currently finding support," Fromm said.
There was a small drop in acts of right-wing violence in 2009, down to 891 acts from 1,042 in 2008. De Maizière stressed that, despite the fall, the threat of far-right violence should not be "neglected."
Spiegel
Saturday, 26 June 2010
Boy made nailbombs with chemicals bought on eBay
Police found a pipe packed with nails and screws and charged with powder in the 16 year old’s bedroom, and a pipe with a firework inside hidden under a waste oil tank at a nearby petrol station.
The youngster also had literature from the right wing groups the British National Party and the English Defence League, together with Nazi emblems.
Officers were tipped off by the eBay seller who was concerned about the commodities being bought. The family's house in Tamworth, Staffs, was immediately evacuated while explosives and firearms experts searched the property for three days.
They found the device, loaded with nails, in his bedroom. It was examined by the Defence Laboratory and found to be capable of producing a "lethal shot". Two days later they found the device with a firework inside.
Stafford Crown Court heard internet conversations from a chat room dedicated to explosives and firearms had been found on a computer in the house.
Malcolm Morse, prosecuting, added that the mother of one of the boy's friends had handed in a video clip from a mobile phone camera showing an explosive device being detonated in a tree. The clip was labelled with the boy’s name and claiming ownership of the device.
The boy, who cannot be named, admitted possessing a firearm without a certificate – the only charge that could be applied to the device found in his bedroom, said Mr Morse. He also admitted having an explosive substance and making an explosive substance.
Judge John Wait made the boy subject to a three year controlling order for public safety. He told him he was a danger to the public and added that he found it hard to believe that his parents had let him carry on making explosive substances and not seen the danger of the combination with extreme politics.
Defending, Darron Whitehead, said: "It would be very easy to simply infer that this young man is a terrorist with hidden agendas. They don't exist in this case.
"There was never at any time, any positive intention to make any aggressive use of the items strewn about his bedroom.
"There is nothing in this case to suggest there was any intention to cause harm to human life."
He said the boy’s interest began with fireworks before developing into a wider interest in pyrotechnics.
Mr Whitehead said the boy’s parents and his neighbours all knew about his interests and were not concerned about him.
One of the boy’s friends, Jason Cunningham, 27, from Tamworth, admitted making an explosive substance and perverting the course of justice. He was jailed for 12 months.
The Telegraph
FRANCE'S NATIONAL FRONT: WILL MARINE LE PEN TAKE THE REINS?
Jean-Marie Le Pen, who heads France's National Front party, has long peppered politics with right-wing bons mots. (Nazi occupation was "not especially inhumane," he once said.) Now his daughter, Marine Le Pen, is showing that she, too, can make headlines. She called on President Nicolas Sarkozy to step down if implicated in a bribery case dating to 1995. She recently knocked France's racially diverse World Cup soccer team: "I don't see myself represented by this France team." And after police on June 15 banned a provocative "pork sausage and booze" party that was to be held in a heavily Arab-Muslim quarter of Paris, Ms. Le Pen said, "the French state has capitulated once again."
Succession campaign in full swing
Her higher visibility comes as a National Front succession campaign is in full swing. The senior Le Pen is set to retire as champion of a proud France that, he's long said, is being invaded and cheated by foreign hordes, Brussels bureaucrats, and globalization. He also decries what he calls excessive Jewish influence in the media. An often-vicious party fight is under way between Ms. Le Pen and Bruno Gollnisch, Mr. Le Pen's stalwart right-hand man. The battle is over the face and direction of the far right, whose influence here has always outweighed its numbers. Ms. Le Pen, tall, blond, and articulate, wants to move the Front away from the splendid isolation of its 5 to 12 percent vote and appeal to a mainstream that has also moved right. She has rebuffed her dad's anti-Semitism and speaks inclusively of gays and feminists – while nourishing an anti-immigrant, antiburqa, anti-Islam line that plays to a silent majority. Mr. Gollnisch, serious, gray-haired, a professor and ultranationalist who speaks Japanese and Malay and is deeply loyal to Mr. Le Pen, wants the party to remain a haven for fellow travelers. His anti-Semitism is intact; a 2004 speech saying Holocaust facts are a "dispute of history" landed him in court. Most French think the daughter, with her populist touch, will win. But in party ranks, Gollnisch is seen as a standard-bearer who put in time and hard work. He told Le Figaro newspaper: "I want … to defend the French identity, which appears more threatened than ever."
"She's a pure product of her father, and she's got the leader's name. That has weight," says Arun Kapil of the American University in Paris. "But to the card-carrying party member, Gollnisch has legitimacy. He goes way back to the '70s." He adds, "If Marine wins, the Front national has a chance to break out … if Gollnisch wins, they retreat to 2 percent." Gollnisch insists that he has the moxie to move the party out. He casts himself as a "little guy from the provinces." But so far he isn't even talking to the main center-right party of Mr. Sarkozy, where the voters are. His hatred for political correctness is reputedly visceral. "He prefers to fish in silent, dark waters," a Paris political analyst says. His outreach is to figures like Philippe de Villiers, a denizen of the extremes who opposes the European Union, the euro, Islam, and Turkey in Europe; who wants riot police to use live ammunition; and who this month tried to ban a heavy-metal concert as "Satanist." Ms. Le Pen, meanwhile, is taking on figures like Sarkozy and getting quoted almost daily. On the socialist left, she is compared to Sarah Palin, especially after claiming a feminist mantle. And the return home this week of France's World Cup team, disgraced by its poor performance on and off the field, has only given Ms. Le Pen's earlier statements added weight. Much of the national reaction to the team's behavior was racially loaded, prompting urban affairs minister Fadela Amara to warn against "building a highway for the National Front."
Party witch hunt
Gollnischians snarl that Ms. Le Pen, a tool of Zionists, is conducting party witch hunts to out his supporters. "She is an empty shell … compatible with anything," says former Front vice president Jean-Claude Martinez. Gollnisch is "faithful to the fundamentals of the Front, whose program he wrote," says analyst Philippe Cohen. "When Marine is 'divisive,' Gollnisch says he is ready to rally the scattered forces of the extreme right." Mr. Le Pen is silent on the internal struggle. He has long been the face of the European far right, and a powerful influence as the mainstream scrambled to match his ability to capture popular discontent. In 2002, he shocked Paris by facing Jacques Chirac in the national runoff. In 2007, his party did poorly. But Sarkozy's victory was partly based on adopting Le Pen positions and siphoning votes. Whether the daughter can move the party into power politics is unclear. In The New York Times recently, she described the trials of being a Le Pen, but affirmed core party views: "There has been a withdrawal into non-French identities because we sapped French nationality of its content.… So how can someone be proud? We spend all our lives saying, 'We are ... colonizers, slavery promoters.' " The Le Pens, in any event, seem here to stay. Mr. Le Pen's granddaughter, Marion Marechal Le Pen, ran in the March local elections. She's 19.
CSMonitor
Succession campaign in full swing
Her higher visibility comes as a National Front succession campaign is in full swing. The senior Le Pen is set to retire as champion of a proud France that, he's long said, is being invaded and cheated by foreign hordes, Brussels bureaucrats, and globalization. He also decries what he calls excessive Jewish influence in the media. An often-vicious party fight is under way between Ms. Le Pen and Bruno Gollnisch, Mr. Le Pen's stalwart right-hand man. The battle is over the face and direction of the far right, whose influence here has always outweighed its numbers. Ms. Le Pen, tall, blond, and articulate, wants to move the Front away from the splendid isolation of its 5 to 12 percent vote and appeal to a mainstream that has also moved right. She has rebuffed her dad's anti-Semitism and speaks inclusively of gays and feminists – while nourishing an anti-immigrant, antiburqa, anti-Islam line that plays to a silent majority. Mr. Gollnisch, serious, gray-haired, a professor and ultranationalist who speaks Japanese and Malay and is deeply loyal to Mr. Le Pen, wants the party to remain a haven for fellow travelers. His anti-Semitism is intact; a 2004 speech saying Holocaust facts are a "dispute of history" landed him in court. Most French think the daughter, with her populist touch, will win. But in party ranks, Gollnisch is seen as a standard-bearer who put in time and hard work. He told Le Figaro newspaper: "I want … to defend the French identity, which appears more threatened than ever."
"She's a pure product of her father, and she's got the leader's name. That has weight," says Arun Kapil of the American University in Paris. "But to the card-carrying party member, Gollnisch has legitimacy. He goes way back to the '70s." He adds, "If Marine wins, the Front national has a chance to break out … if Gollnisch wins, they retreat to 2 percent." Gollnisch insists that he has the moxie to move the party out. He casts himself as a "little guy from the provinces." But so far he isn't even talking to the main center-right party of Mr. Sarkozy, where the voters are. His hatred for political correctness is reputedly visceral. "He prefers to fish in silent, dark waters," a Paris political analyst says. His outreach is to figures like Philippe de Villiers, a denizen of the extremes who opposes the European Union, the euro, Islam, and Turkey in Europe; who wants riot police to use live ammunition; and who this month tried to ban a heavy-metal concert as "Satanist." Ms. Le Pen, meanwhile, is taking on figures like Sarkozy and getting quoted almost daily. On the socialist left, she is compared to Sarah Palin, especially after claiming a feminist mantle. And the return home this week of France's World Cup team, disgraced by its poor performance on and off the field, has only given Ms. Le Pen's earlier statements added weight. Much of the national reaction to the team's behavior was racially loaded, prompting urban affairs minister Fadela Amara to warn against "building a highway for the National Front."
Party witch hunt
Gollnischians snarl that Ms. Le Pen, a tool of Zionists, is conducting party witch hunts to out his supporters. "She is an empty shell … compatible with anything," says former Front vice president Jean-Claude Martinez. Gollnisch is "faithful to the fundamentals of the Front, whose program he wrote," says analyst Philippe Cohen. "When Marine is 'divisive,' Gollnisch says he is ready to rally the scattered forces of the extreme right." Mr. Le Pen is silent on the internal struggle. He has long been the face of the European far right, and a powerful influence as the mainstream scrambled to match his ability to capture popular discontent. In 2002, he shocked Paris by facing Jacques Chirac in the national runoff. In 2007, his party did poorly. But Sarkozy's victory was partly based on adopting Le Pen positions and siphoning votes. Whether the daughter can move the party into power politics is unclear. In The New York Times recently, she described the trials of being a Le Pen, but affirmed core party views: "There has been a withdrawal into non-French identities because we sapped French nationality of its content.… So how can someone be proud? We spend all our lives saying, 'We are ... colonizers, slavery promoters.' " The Le Pens, in any event, seem here to stay. Mr. Le Pen's granddaughter, Marion Marechal Le Pen, ran in the March local elections. She's 19.
CSMonitor
Greens MP and pal attacked by 'racist' football fans (Austria)
Greens MP Werner Kogler was given a "beer shower" as he acted as a go-between at an open air World Cup party.
The financial issues expert said today (Fri) he reprimanded a group of four young men shouting racist slurs before they spilled beer over his head at the venue in the city centre of Graz on Wednesday night.
Kogler claimed the youths provoked other football enthusiasts watching Germany playing Ghana by shouting paroles like "shitty niggers".
The politician – who is his party’s front runner for the 26 September provincial elections of Styria – announced one of his mates suffered a broken cheekbone as the situation got out of hands. The attacker was arrested, he added.
Austrian Greens Member of the European Parliament (MEP) Ulrike Lunacek revealed recently a protester threw stones at her during a demonstration for gay rights in the Slovakian capital Bratislava.
Lunacek said the route of the "Rainbow Pride Bratislava 2010" march was changed after the incident, adding that the attacker was put in custody.
Austrian Times
The financial issues expert said today (Fri) he reprimanded a group of four young men shouting racist slurs before they spilled beer over his head at the venue in the city centre of Graz on Wednesday night.
Kogler claimed the youths provoked other football enthusiasts watching Germany playing Ghana by shouting paroles like "shitty niggers".
The politician – who is his party’s front runner for the 26 September provincial elections of Styria – announced one of his mates suffered a broken cheekbone as the situation got out of hands. The attacker was arrested, he added.
Austrian Greens Member of the European Parliament (MEP) Ulrike Lunacek revealed recently a protester threw stones at her during a demonstration for gay rights in the Slovakian capital Bratislava.
Lunacek said the route of the "Rainbow Pride Bratislava 2010" march was changed after the incident, adding that the attacker was put in custody.
Austrian Times
Met boss: Day I took on racist yobs who called me 'Paki'
Scotland Yard's most senior Muslim officer has told how he challenged a gang of yobs who racially abused him while he was off duty.
Chief Superintendent Dal Babu was walking to a church confirmation when he was subjected to shouts of "Paki, Paki." The father-of-two blocked the men's path until help arrived, as they tried to jostle him and push past.
Two people have now been convicted over the abuse.
The Harrow borough commander, who was awarded an OBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours list, told how he was on his BlackBerry getting directions to the church in St Albans when he walked past a pub and saw three men. One shouted: "Paki, Paki."
In a witness statement, Mr Babu, 47, who lives in London, said one of the white men asked: "Come on Paki what you going to do about it?" Mr Babu added: "He beckoned me to come towards him with his hand. The two other men were laughing and started to walk towards me. I am unfamiliar with St Albans and was concerned I was going be assaulted. The man in the grey top continued to shout.
"I decided I should identify myself as a police officer and call for assistance. I then crossed the road and produced my warrant card and said, 'I am Chief Superintendent Babu from the Metropolitan Police I want to speak to you. I phoned 999. The three men started to surround me and I noticed all of them smelt of intoxicating liquor. I said, 'I want you to stay here, There is CCTV that will capture everything you do.'"
Two of the men tried to walk away but, said Mr Babu: "I blocked their path ... they pushed past me, the man in the yellow top pushed me causing my BlackBerry to fall and come apart." But he managed to hold on to two of them until uniformed officers arrived. The abuse took place last month. At Hertford magistrates' court, Jamie Healy, 27, of Watford, was given a community order after pleading guilty to a public order offence. Michael Dimaio, 24, of St Albans, is awaiting sentence after admitting causing racial aggravation.
Mr Babu, one of 10 children of Indian migrants, joined the Met in 1983 and is a founding member of the National Association of Muslim Police. He helped build bridges between police and Muslim communities after the 9/11 and the 7/7 bombings.
This is London
Chief Superintendent Dal Babu was walking to a church confirmation when he was subjected to shouts of "Paki, Paki." The father-of-two blocked the men's path until help arrived, as they tried to jostle him and push past.
Two people have now been convicted over the abuse.
The Harrow borough commander, who was awarded an OBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours list, told how he was on his BlackBerry getting directions to the church in St Albans when he walked past a pub and saw three men. One shouted: "Paki, Paki."
In a witness statement, Mr Babu, 47, who lives in London, said one of the white men asked: "Come on Paki what you going to do about it?" Mr Babu added: "He beckoned me to come towards him with his hand. The two other men were laughing and started to walk towards me. I am unfamiliar with St Albans and was concerned I was going be assaulted. The man in the grey top continued to shout.
"I decided I should identify myself as a police officer and call for assistance. I then crossed the road and produced my warrant card and said, 'I am Chief Superintendent Babu from the Metropolitan Police I want to speak to you. I phoned 999. The three men started to surround me and I noticed all of them smelt of intoxicating liquor. I said, 'I want you to stay here, There is CCTV that will capture everything you do.'"
Two of the men tried to walk away but, said Mr Babu: "I blocked their path ... they pushed past me, the man in the yellow top pushed me causing my BlackBerry to fall and come apart." But he managed to hold on to two of them until uniformed officers arrived. The abuse took place last month. At Hertford magistrates' court, Jamie Healy, 27, of Watford, was given a community order after pleading guilty to a public order offence. Michael Dimaio, 24, of St Albans, is awaiting sentence after admitting causing racial aggravation.
Mr Babu, one of 10 children of Indian migrants, joined the Met in 1983 and is a founding member of the National Association of Muslim Police. He helped build bridges between police and Muslim communities after the 9/11 and the 7/7 bombings.
This is London
School sends home more than 20 children for racist chants during World Cup game
A school suspended more than 20 children after they started chanting racial abuse during a playground showing of a World Cup game.
Education chiefs at the Pent Valley Technology College in Cheriton, Kent, confirmed today that 'a number of children' had been suspended or excluded following an outbreak of 'racial taunting'.
More than 100 children at the secondary school were watching a match after school bosses decided to rig up a giant screen in the playground so pupils could watch lunchtime games.
The incident - which involved around 25 children taunting children of other nationalities - is believed to have taken place during the Honduras v Chile game on June 16.
Head teacher Mario Citro said that a group of youngsters had been sent home from school after 'abusive and racist comments' were made.
He refused to say how many had been suspended or if any had been permanently excluded, but did say that 'a number' of pupils had been excluded.
A source at the school, however, said between 20 and 25 children had been sent home immediately following the incident.
Mr Citro said that the incident was captured on CCTV and that some students had behaved in an 'intimidating manner'.
He added: 'A group of youngsters was making abusive and racist comments to the ones who aren't English.
'Some were trying to be horrible to some of our children from other countries - that is behaviour we don't accept.'
Mr Citro, who said staff take a 'hard line' on racism, addressed a school assembly in the wake of the incident telling children that any racist behaviour would not be tolerated.
He said: 'I reminded the students that what happened was something we would never accept at Pent Valley.
'I reinforced our stance against racism and reminded them how proud we are of our mixed community and how we've always got on together.'
A spokesman for Kent police confirmed that racist chanting had 'got out of hand', but said the school had handled the incident itself.
The spokesman said: 'Some children got suspended after some England chanting got out of hand and ended up racist in tone.
'We were told about it but not called out as the school managed it quickly.'
Mr Citro refused to confirm how many pupils at the 1,300 student school were suspended or excluded, adding: 'A number of children have been excluded but I'm always concerned about people's privacy.'
Daily Mail
Education chiefs at the Pent Valley Technology College in Cheriton, Kent, confirmed today that 'a number of children' had been suspended or excluded following an outbreak of 'racial taunting'.
More than 100 children at the secondary school were watching a match after school bosses decided to rig up a giant screen in the playground so pupils could watch lunchtime games.
The incident - which involved around 25 children taunting children of other nationalities - is believed to have taken place during the Honduras v Chile game on June 16.
Head teacher Mario Citro said that a group of youngsters had been sent home from school after 'abusive and racist comments' were made.
He refused to say how many had been suspended or if any had been permanently excluded, but did say that 'a number' of pupils had been excluded.
A source at the school, however, said between 20 and 25 children had been sent home immediately following the incident.
Mr Citro said that the incident was captured on CCTV and that some students had behaved in an 'intimidating manner'.
He added: 'A group of youngsters was making abusive and racist comments to the ones who aren't English.
'Some were trying to be horrible to some of our children from other countries - that is behaviour we don't accept.'
Mr Citro, who said staff take a 'hard line' on racism, addressed a school assembly in the wake of the incident telling children that any racist behaviour would not be tolerated.
He said: 'I reminded the students that what happened was something we would never accept at Pent Valley.
'I reinforced our stance against racism and reminded them how proud we are of our mixed community and how we've always got on together.'
A spokesman for Kent police confirmed that racist chanting had 'got out of hand', but said the school had handled the incident itself.
The spokesman said: 'Some children got suspended after some England chanting got out of hand and ended up racist in tone.
'We were told about it but not called out as the school managed it quickly.'
Mr Citro refused to confirm how many pupils at the 1,300 student school were suspended or excluded, adding: 'A number of children have been excluded but I'm always concerned about people's privacy.'
Daily Mail
Racist violence migrates to the country (UK)
Researchers at the Institute of Race Relations (IRR) analysed 660 racist attacks across Britain last year and found growing evidence to suggest that violence against minorities has shifted to rural areas and towns.
The IRR said hatred and bigotry had spread in less than a generation thanks to a broad spread of asylum seekers, migrant workers, overseas students and the movement of settled ethnic minority families. Prejudice was also being fanned, they concluded, by mainstream political parties competing with one another over which could cut immigration the fastest.
"What has emerged is that the map of violence has changed quite dramatically since studies were first done of such violence in the 1970s," the authors wrote.
"It is no longer poor, deprived areas of London such as Southall, Tower Hamlets, Hackney and Newham, which witnessed many of the racial attacks and racist murders a generation or two ago, that are now so prone to serious attacks. Not only are black and ethnic minority communities now more established there but also a whole history of struggle against racism has strengthened these communities."
They added: "But what was significant was that ethnic minorities in a whole host of cities, towns and areas, not traditionally associated with such violence, now appear to be experiencing it. These are areas which have traditionally been very white and are not affluent. In some cases, core industries have gone and a whole generation of young people are without a future."
The authors said minority ethnic groups, asylum seekers and migrant communities are bearing the brunt of these tensions. They found asylum seekers, newly-arrived migrant workers and people who look Muslim are most at risk of attack, while trades that isolate individuals, such as cab driving, serving in takeaways and staffing small shops were found to be the most dangerous. IRR researchers say at least 89 identifiably racist murders have taken place in Britain since Stephen Lawrence was killed while waiting for a bus in Eltham, south London, in 1993 – an average of five a year. Of the victims, 39 were Asian, 25 were black, four were white British and three were white eastern Europeans.
Lee Bridges, who analysed official crime statistics for the report, found that while racist attacks had decreased in London over the past decade, they have dramatically risen in proportion elsewhere.
In 1999/2000, London recorded 23,401 racist incidents, 49 per cent of the national total. By 2007/8 that number had dropped to 9,866, a 58 per cent reduction. Last year, Greater Manchester, West Midlands, West Yorkshire, Thames Valley and Lancashire accounted for 28 per cent of the national total, a 103 per cent increase on 10 years ago.
Case Study: Indian sailor died after attack by gang of 20 youths
Gregory Fernandes, a 32-year-old sailor from Goa in India, was walking back to the cargo ship he worked on in Fawley, Hampshire when he and a friend were set upon by a 20-strong gang of youths. It was October 2007. Mr Fernandes was his family's breadwinner. A passerby broke up the fight and drove Mr Fernandes to his cargo ship, but he dropped dead from a heart attack.
Police concluded that the attack, which took place in a normally quiet backwater of Hampshire, had clear racist overtones. The gang had been shouting "Paki" during the assault. In January 2008, the Fernandes family expressed concern at the police investigation and the failure to charge anyone in connection with his death. Three young boys were later charged with his murder. At their trial in February 2009, the three admitted lesser charges of manslaughter. In March 2009, Stephen Pritchard, 18, Daniel Rogers, 18, and Chay Fields, 16, were sentenced to six-and-a-half years. A 15-year-old boy admitted GBH on Mr Fernandes' friend and was given a 12-month detention and training order. Another 15-year-old who admitted assault was given an 18-month supervision order.
The Independant
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