Ross Parker (murder victim)

Ross Andrew Parker (19 August 1984 – 21 September 2001), from Peterborough, England, was a seventeen-year-old white English male murdered in an unprovoked racially motivated crime.

He bled to death after being stabbed, beaten with a hammer and repeatedly kicked by a gang of British Pakistani men.

The incident occurred in Millfield, Peterborough, ten days after the September 11 attacks.

Ross Parker was born in Peterborough in 1984 to Davinia and Tony Parker.

His mother worked as a waitress and his father ran a car bodywork repair business; he was one of two children.

Parker was an avid footballer and, having completed a GNVQ in business studies at Jack Hunt School, hoped to join the police force when he was 18.

He was nicknamed "Half-Pint" owing to his 5 ft height and had twice broken his leg previously.

Parker lived in the Westwood area of the city and worked part-time as bar support at The Solstice, a local public house where he had met his girlfriend, Nicola Toms.

Parker was murdered shortly after 1:15 a.m. on Friday 21 September 2001 while walking with his girlfriend, Nicola Toms.

The attack took place on a cycle path alongside Bourges Boulevard in Millfield, Peterborough, near to Russell Street.

Racial tensions in the area were high as the 11 September attacks in New York City had occurred only ten days earlier.

On 26 September 2001, Sarfraz Ali, Ahmed Ali Awan and Shaied Nazir appeared in court charged with Parker's murder.

Zairaff Mahrad was charged the following day.

In December 2002, Shaied Nazir, Ahmed Ali Awan and Sarfraz Ali were unanimously found guilty of Parker's murder and sentenced to life imprisonment, each receiving minimum terms ranging from 16 to 18 years.

A fourth defendant, Zairaff Mahrad, was cleared of murder and manslaughter.

A memorial plaque for Parker is located in the Netherton area of Peterborough where a football match is played each year in his memory.

Having finished work early, Parker and Toms were walking to visit her friend's house when they were confronted by a gang of around ten British Pakistani youths, some of whom were wearing balaclavas; the 2002 trial judge concluded that they had planned to find "a white male to attack simply because he was white" in the context of "hostility on the part of some of the younger white residents of the city against the Asian community".

They warned Parker he had "better start running", but then blocked his path and quickly sprayed him in the face with CS gas.

He was punched in the stomach then stabbed three times from behind through the throat and chest with a foot-long hunting knife.

The knife penetrated completely through his body on two occasions and as he was lying on the ground he was repeatedly kicked and struck with a panel beater's hammer.

Toms ran to a nearby petrol station for help and a man there gave her his mobile phone to call the police.

While making the call, she twice heard Parker cry out in pain.

By chance she spotted a passing police car.

She entered the car and guided the officer to the scene of the assault.

Although Toms had only been away for a few minutes, by the time she returned Parker had already bled to death and the gang had disappeared.

After the murder, four of the gang returned to a garage which they used as their headquarters.

Ahmed Ali Awan, brandishing the bloodied knife, exclaimed "Cherish the blood".

The police informed Parker's family of his death at 4:30 a.m.; his body remained at the scene during the day while an investigation was conducted.

A post-mortem revealed Parker had died as a result of stab wounds inflicted by a bladed instrument.

Parker's murder sparked what became one of the biggest police inquiries in the history of Peterborough.

During the weekend following the attack, twelve suspects of Pakistani descent were arrested on suspicion of murder.

Members of the local Muslim community posted a £1,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the killers, later increasing to £1,500.

Detective Chief Inspector Dick Harrison, who was overseeing the case, praised the city's Muslim community for their involvement in capturing the murderers.

However, by March 2002 all four defendants had been controversially released on bail.

Parker's sister, Leanne, stated "we can't begin to comprehend why they've been allowed out of prison at this stage".

Parker's family were so concerned about the decision that they wrote a letter of complaint to the Home Secretary, David Blunkett.

The Home Office refused to comment on the case and the men remained free on bail.

On 7 November 2002, Awan, Nazir, Ali and Mahrad all of Millfield, Peterborough, stood trial for Parker's murder at Northampton Crown Court, pleading not guilty.

Awan, 22, ran a recruitment company and had previously attended the city's Deacon's School.

He was an unofficial police informer and the court was told he thought of himself as a gangster and had a "fantasy for knives".