BNP Trying To Make A Martyr Out Of A Victim

**BBC News Story has been updated with clarification after I wrote this, good on them**

Habib Khan has quite rightly been sentenced to 8 years for the manslaughter of Keith Brown, his neighbour. Reading the BBC News story you get the sense this was just a fight that got out of hand, perhaps instigated by racism (it's not intentionally written that way but my underlying anti BNP stance is not dissuaded from getting this impression by the text). That is the story the BNP want you to believe.

This is not what happened and I believe it's an important point missed out by the BBC this time, playing into the hands of the BNP's take on events.

An earlier story, before the BNP began to spin things, suggests the dispute arose over property and this is backed up by a Daily Mail story which elaborates on the neighbours friendship that turned to hate over an issue with regard to Mr Khan's property refurbishments. Mr Brown certainly wasn't innocent in this, he and his son previously being actively violent in their attempts to stop Mr Khan's developments from continuing. Mr Khan should never have got violent with Mr Brown (a man with previous violence related crimes against his name) but I'm sure Mr Brown didn't act in a very reasonable way and given his history I think it's reasonable to believe Mr Khan was attempting, in the wrong way, to defend his son from violence.

Mr Khan deserves his sentence, Mr Brown did not deserve to die. But this was not a racist killing, this was a clash between two stupid, unreasonable old men, gone horribly wrong.