Justice is a joke
Family of slain Shaun Woodburn hit out as thug who was involved in events surrounding his death is let off once again by court system
A THUG who was part of a violent rampage that ended with Shaun Woodburn’s death has defied a court order for a second time – and been shown mercy again.
Mohammed Zakariyah appeared before a judge yesterday for being “uncooperative” with social workers who are supervising him.
It came weeks after he was hauled to court for breaching his community service order by failing to turn up for work.
Instead of throwing the thug behind bars for his repeated defiance of the law, judge Lady Stacey yesterday decided to give him one more chance.
Her decision was another slap in the face for Shaun’s family, who feel they have repeatedly been let down by the justice system.
Shaun’s dad Kevin said: “Why is this man being treated so lightly when he clearly has no respect for the punishment handed down to him? There was no second chance for Shaun.
“How many more kicks in the teeth are my family expected to take? The justice system is a joke.”
Zakariyah, 19, was cleared of murdering junior footballer Shaun, 30. But he admitted two assaults and a breach of the peace on the night of the tragedy in Edinburgh on Hogmanay 2016.
Last November, Zakariyah enjoyed his first experience of soft-touch justice when instead of being caged, Lady Stacey ordered him to carry out 240 hours of unpaid work in the community and placed him under supervision. He didn’t even comply with that. In July, Zakariyah was back before Lady Stacey for failing to turn up to do his community service on three occasions in May and June.
He tried to blag his way out of it by saying that, as a Muslim, he couldn’t work during the holy month of Ramadan.
The judge dismissed that as an excuse – but she was lenient again.
Rather than jailing Zakariyah, Lady Stacey merely added 20 hours of work to his community order.
She warned him he would be jailed if he breached the order again, saying: “You have to do what you are
told. It is not for you to decide what you will or will not do.”
Zakariyah ignored the warning and ended up back before the judge at the High Court in Glasgow yesterday. Incredibly, she gave him another chance.
Lady Stacey told Zakariyah: “I’m now telling you again. You are on your last chance. You are going along a road that suggests to me that you have not learned your lesson.” Zakariyah was part of a gang who caused mayhem on the streets of the capital as festive celebrations were in full swing in 2016.
They carried out a two-hour violence spree that culminated in Shaun’s death outside Gladstones bar in Leith in the early hours of New Year’s Day.
Zakariyah’s friend Mohammed Ibnomer, 18, was convicted of the culpable homicide of Shaun and jailed for just four years.
It was a bitter blow for the young dad’s family – and the justice system keeps letting them down.
Kevin said: “We were kicked in the teeth when Shaun was killed, we were kicked in the teeth during the trial, we were kicked in the teeth with the pitiful sentence handed to Shaun’s killer and now, again, we are being kicked in the teeth by Lady Stacey’s soft-touch approach towards someone who was there and involved the night my son died.”
The court heard yesterday that while Zakariyah had now carried out more than half of the unpaid work, he has failed to cooperate with social work officers overseeing his supervision.
His lawyer Kevin McCallum said the thug “finds it difficult to understand the benefit of his input”.
He added: “He doesn’t seem to get why it is so important that he cooperates.”
Lady Stacey told Zakariyah: “You will leave me no option but to consider detention unless you get on and do this order.”
Why is this man being treated so lightly? There was no second chance for Shaun KEVIN WOODBURN ON LENIENCY SHOWN TO ZAKARIYAH