Murdered imam’s inquest will explore what authorities knew about his killers
AN inquest into the death of a muchloved imam who was murdered will be held - and is likely to examine what was known by the authorities about the risk posed by his killers, it has been ruled.
Jalal Uddin, 71, was killed in a children’s play area in Rochdale on February 18, 2016.
Mr Uddin suffered multiple injuries to his head and face in the fatal attack, thought to have involved a hammer.
The police investigation revealed that Mr Uddin had been murdered by Mohammed Kadir, then aged 24, who had acted together with Mohammed Hussain Syeedy, then aged 21.
Syeedy, now aged 26, was convicted of Mr Uddin’s murder and jailed for life with a minimum of 24 years in September 2016.
Syeedy’s trial was told Mr Uddin practised Ruqya, a form of healing in which he used amulets called Taweez and which is controversial in Islam.
Jurors were told that Syeedy and Kadir considered it to be “black magic.”
Following the killing, Kadir, with the assistance of a third man, Mohammed Syadul Hussein, fled the country and travelled to Turkey and has not returned to the UK since.
Hussein, now 28, was convicted of assisting an offender following a trial in April 2017 and jailed for five years.
An inquest into Mr Uddin’s death was opened shortly after his death before being suspended as a result of the commencement of criminal proceedings.
On November 18, a hearing was held where a crown court judge sitting at Rochdale Coroner’s Court was asked to decide if the coronial investigation into his death should be resumed.
Submissions were made by legal representatives for the inquest and for the Home Office.
The hearing was told that from October 2015 Kadir was assessed and continued to be assessed as a person who was of “high risk and significant concern”, and latterly as “someone who posed a risk of acting on his Islamist extremist aspirations.”
It was also said from January 2016 Kadir had “access to openly available extremist literature.”
Cathryn McGahey QC, representing the Home Secretary, said that there was “no risk of which the authorities could have been aware.” She also said in written submissions that a resumed inquest “would be likely to provide limited benefit to Mr Uddin’s family.” However Mr Uddin’s son made brief submissions via telephone at the hearing, telling Judge Patrick Field QC he would wish the inquest to continue.
And Judge Field said there were “issues that remain to be investigated” as he ruled an inquest into Mr Uddin’s death should be resumed.
In a written ruling, dated November 27, which has been made public, Judge Field detailed a list of 15 questions and issues that “encapsulate the scope of the investigation that is now necessary.”
He said: “I am satisfied that the matters set out... give rise to a credible suggestion that Kadir represented a present and continuing risk to the lives of members of society at large, that the authorities knew or ought to have known of that risk; and that they failed to take measures to avoid it.
“Indeed, to suggest otherwise given the knowledge that we have of the deadly actions of Islamist extremists on numerous other occasions, seems illogical.
“It follows, that there is a requirement to resume the investigation into Jalal Uddin’s death.”
He added: “In my judgment it will be necessary to investigate the basis for each of these assessments; the nature and extent of the risks; and what was done (or not done) by the authorities in response to these risks and concerns.”