A man convicted of the racist murder of Glasgow schoolboy Kriss Donald has won a human rights appeal at the UK Supreme Court. Imran Shahid, who is serving a minimum of 25 years for the 2004 killing, had argued that his prolonged solitary confinement violated his rights.
The Supreme Court ruled that Shahid was unlawfully kept in segregation for a total of 14 months. This breached Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which protects the right to private life. However, the judges decided that Shahid would not be eligible for damages.
Shahid was the ringleader of a gang that abducted 15-year-old Kriss Donald in the Pollokshields area of Glasgow, stabbed him multiple times, and set him on fire. He was sentenced to life in November 2006 alongside his brother Zeeshan Shahid and Faisal Mushtaq.
During his time in Scottish prisons, Shahid spent four years and eight months in segregation. The court found that only 14 months of that period lacked proper authorisation, as extensions beyond 72 hours were not approved by Scottish ministers in time. The judges noted that consideration should have been given to transferring him to another prison in the UK and that no meaningful reintegration plan was in place for over four and a half years.
Despite the ruling, the court acknowledged that Shahid's segregation conditions were not inhuman or degrading and were necessary for his safety. He had been attacked by another inmate at HMP Edinburgh in 2011 after returning to the mainstream population. The Scottish Prison Service said it was considering the judgment and any necessary procedural changes.
