With the verdict that Habib Khan was guilty of wounding with intent, in the Keith Brown murder trial coming at 3pm this afternoon (Wednesday – ed) we can now start to talk about this shocking case. The verdict came after 13 hours of deliberation by the jury who last week had cleared Khan of murder but found him guilty of manslaughter.

Speaking to Stoke BNP Clr Michael Coleman about an hour ago he addressed several reporters outside the court and his comments have been broadcast on BBC Midlands Today, ITV’s Central News and BBC Radio Stoke. Further to this I believe that Channel Four had also scheduled in a report for tonight.

Speaking to reporters after the case, Chief Inspector Carl Ratcliffe, of Stoke-on-Trent police, said he believed the killing was the tragic result of a violent dispute between next-door neighbours.The court heard that the two families involved in the feud had clashed previously following a dispute over an access road.Mr Ratcliffe said: “We extend our sympathies to Mr Brown’s family and everyone else touched by these terribly sad events.”Knifes can kill and their use can never be condoned. Whatever the circumstances, people should not take the law into their own hands.”Mr Ratcliffe added that the inquiry into the death, conducted by Staffordshire’s major investigation department, was thorough and impartial.”This incident had a significant impact on the local community. Hopefully, the conclusion of this case will bring a sense of closure for all of those affected,” he said.

BNP councillor Michael Coleman, who knew Mr Brown, also addressed reporters outside the court.Mr Coleman said his friend, whose funeral was attended by BNP leader Nick Griffin, acted as a leafleter for the party during elections in North Staffordshire.The councillor also questioned whether a verdict of manslaughter would have been returned if Mr Brown had stabbed Khan in the back and killed him.”I am shocked and appalled at the judgment,” he said.”We do believe it was a case of murder – a clear-cut case of murder.”But politics was brought into it, as was race, and that perverted the entire process of the court.”If Keith Brown had killed Habib Khan, I have no doubt it would have been treated as a racial murder.”Mr Coleman, who called for calm in the Normacot area, claimed the dispute between the neighbours had nothing to do with race and was “first and last” a row over a stretch of land.”Everybody who knew Keith respected him,” he added.

Meanwhile they are trying to keep the lid on another death in Stoke, this from the Sentinel newspaper:

Friends of young mother Katie Bennett have paid tribute to her after she died following a fall from a taxi. Katie, aged 21, fell from a cab in High Street, Newchapel, in the early hours of Saturday morning, sustaining serious head injuries. She died in hospital on Monday morning.
Katie had been returning home from a night out in Hanley with friends when she fell from the taxi. It is thought there was a disagreement with the driver over the fare as they were being dropped off. The cab then drove away with Katie still on board, and she fell into the road.She leaves a two-year-old daughter, Mia Louise. Yesterday Katie’s family, who live in Meadow Court, Newchapel, paid tribute to the “kind-hearted, fun-loving and popular girl.”Police launched a search for the driver of the Hackney carriage following the incident, and on Monday arrested a 30-year-old man from Stoke-on-Trent on suspicion of failing to stop following a road accident.He was questioned by detectives before being released on police bail pending further inquiries.Katie worked at the Sainsbury’s Local store, in Crewe Road, Alsager.

Completing a trilogy of anti-white racism from Stoke I’ve just heard that 74 year old Stan Leese, who is life president of Staffordshire Football Association, has been suspended by the FA for three years. You may wonder what his crime was, I’ll tell you – Stan committed the heinous offence of standing as a British National Party candidate in Stoke’s Northwood and Biirches Head ward on May 1st losing by just thirty votes.