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Criminologist David Wilson looks at Scotland’s complex history of race crime and asks if there really is no problem here.

Professor David Wilson, the UK’s leading criminologist, presents the second series of the crime talk show Crime Files. In this episode, he examines the troubled history of race crime in Scotland and meets some of the country’s key players in the fight for justice and equality.

David travels to Edinburgh to investigate the racist murder of Ahmed Abuukar Shekh in 1989. It was a crime that challenged Scotland’s view that racism didn’t exist here, and to this day, no-one has ever been convicted of Ahmed’s murder.

In the studio, David meets Mukami McCrum, a former member of protest group the Lothian Black Forum, who fought to have Ahmed’s murder recognised as racist. She describes to David the fear and distress that the murder brought to minority communities and the pain that the lack of a conviction still brings.

David’s next guest is Manjit Sangha, the sister of Surjit Singh Chhokar, who was brutally stabbed to death whilst on his way home from work in 1998. Dogged by failings and institutional racism from the very beginning, Manjit’s family fought for 18 years to finally see Surjit’s murderer put behind bars. Manjit tells David about that heartbreaking moment she found out about her brother’s death and the years of struggle to win justice.

David’s final guest on Crime Files is eminent human rights lawyer Aamer Anwar. One of Scotland’s most high-profile solicitors, Aamer has spent a career fighting for justice and giving a voice to those in need. Never afraid to speak his mind, Aamer tells David how his experience of racism as a child in Liverpool filled him with an anger that was further fueled by a racist assault by police in Glasgow. Since then, he’s used his ‘big mouth’ for good, but he tells David that Scotland still has a long way to go to prove that there’s no problem with racism.

28 minutes

Credits

Role Contributor
Presenter David Wilson
Executive Producer Harry Bell

Broadcasts