Critically discuss the (report) into the death of Zahid Mubarek with particular reference to the learning outcomes – identify and discuss the circumstances, processes and working practices within criminal justice agencies which have led to an avoidable death or a failure to bring offenders to justice.
This essay covers the report on the attack of Zahid Mubarek, a first-time offender in Feltham Young Offenders Institution, leading to his death. The assignment will cover the failings of the Criminal Justice System and its agencies, particularly the prison and probation services.
The essay will look at the issues surrounding the factors of discrimination in the Criminal Justice System and anti-discriminatory practices that had been created shortly afterward. The paper will also examine the miscarriage of justice after Mubarek’s death, as well as previous examples of such, including Stephen Lawrence and Victoria Climbie. The essay can also provide those with career aspirations involving the Criminal Justice System the chance to identify the previous failings of its agencies and be able to use such practices to contribute to the systems in place and challenge any issues that may be found.
Within this assignment, the death of Zahid Mubarek will be discussed in depth, in reference to the potential causes surrounding his preventable death on the 28th of March 2000. One of these possible causes being the theory of institutional racism playing a role as Mubarek may not have been provided with equal justice by the Criminal Justice system itself. The Keith Report (Ch 3.2, 2006) states ”the issue of racism is at the heart of this inquiry” and this is highly recognised, but it is as to whether or not this was a cause of Zahid Mubarek’s preventable death.
Throughout this case, there are several clear signs of blatant racism being neglected by officers who had multiple chances to interfere in order to prevent Mubarek from being a victim to such a racist agenda. Research has found that officers at Feltham, under the guidance of the Criminal Justice System, were subject to the overpopulation of inmates and the shortage of official staff, which inevitably resulted in a lack of training being provided to police officers, as it was stated ”many of the things which led to Zahid’s murder were down to the failings of individual officers at Feltham”, (Keith Ch 38.1, 2006). Due to the understaffing and lack of training given to officers at Feltham, this consequently resulted in an extremely low morale within the institution itself, wherein which officers did not necessarily even want to do their job to the level at which it should be in order to protect the inmates who were already subjected to harm due to the vast overpopulation. Appertaining to the understaffing concerns at Feltham and the lowering morale, the Keith Report explains ”mistakes are more likely to occur, and staff will probably approach their work with less enthusiasm” (Keith Ch 41.1, 2006), and in relation to the death of Zahid Mubarek, after witnessing the warning signs of the upcoming racist acts, the staff of Feltham, with such a low morale, possibly chose to ignore the signs as they may not have seemed significant enough to put their already stretched time into. Furthermore, this lack of morale resulted in weak cell searches, exposing inmates to further dangers, cells should be searched intensely to ensure that all inmates are safe from harm and additionally are not themselves keeping contraband within the prison. When the Keith report states that ”each cell had to be fully and comprehensively searched every three months” (Keith Ch 29.11, 2006), it highlights the fact that the searches within the cells at Feltham, Mubarek’s being a perfect example of this, were not searched in the way they are guided to by law, in fact, they were barely searched at all, and this alone potentially could have played a part in the avoidable death of Mubarek.
Zahid Mubarek was a first-time inmate, incarcerated for a highly minor crime. Robert Stewart was convicted of arson in 1993, had his first probation service due to burglary and various other offences during 1997, and within the Keith report it clearly states that ”Stewart recalling having engaged in what he called ”Paki-bashing” when he was between 14 and 16” (Keith Ch 8.9, 2006), this kind of racist, violent agenda set into a teenager of that age, left to develop is morally horrific, then for Stewart to not show improvement and then, for this known racist with various acknowledged possible mental health issues, to be placed into a cell with a young ethnic male was one of the major flaws from the Criminal Justice System itself. It placed Mubarek in a situation where he had no option to fear, they placed him in a dangerous situation which potentially caused this tragic death. Although at the time Feltham was crumbling under the pressure of such a large percentage of new inmates, while also dealing with a significant staff shortage, this does not excuse ignoring the dangers presented to the inmates if they are highlighted so clearly just because at the time morale is low. As police officers working within the Criminal Justice System, it is their duty and purpose to not only protect the public, but to also protect the inmates, in order for them to get a chance at rehabilitation, and for the families to receive what they feel is real justice. It was an extreme injustice for Mubarek to be exposed to Stewart as he was, with no line of defence and no support offered when needed, he was an inmate with great potential for rehabilitation but the Criminal Justice System in this instance didn’t even give him the chance.
Along with this, the lack of communication between institutions before and after the death of Mubarek must be discussed as there was a level of neglect as to the files that could have potentially prevented Mubarek from being murdered by Robert Stewart. The clear absence of authority and supervision within Feltham demonstrates a lack of regulation and concern similar to that of which occurred at the Hillsborough football stadium in Sheffield on the 15th of April 1989, where 96 individuals were killed, and it left 76 more severely harmed. The correlation between these two events is in that the officers present at both held a disregard for the safety of individuals of the public, which is failing to perform as the law states is required. The main lack of communication that led to the Hillsborough disaster occurring was in that the stewards that allowed fans into the pens were in fact towards the back, so couldn’t be informed as to exactly how full they were, resulting in the overcrowding that left numerous fatal injuries. According to an online BBC article, ”police delayed declaring a major incident” (BBC News, 2016), which affected the rate in which the injured individuals were tended to by the emergency services they were in desperate need of, possibly lowering their chance of survival. This, with the ”failures by commanding officers” (BBC News, 2016), and the ”failure to close the tunnel” which was said to be ”the direct cause of the deaths of 96 people” (BBC News, 2016), all demonstrate how in which a lack of management and authoritative support which should be put in place by the police, contributed to the Hillsborough disaster and the highly preventable deaths that occurred. The Hillsborough disaster shows how a lack of control and communication can result in extreme carelessness, whereas the case of Mubarek, in regards to Feltham, shows how slight misconduct can also have severe consequences. Similarly this can be seen throughout the severe neglect imposed onto Victoria Climbie, wherein which ”the blame lay not only with Kouao and Manning in the dock but child protection authorities who had been blindly incompetent” (BCC News, 2013), they failed to use the child protection system as it should be, which can be said to be a reason as to why Victoria Climbie was exposed to the harsh abuse that she was at the time, repeatedly. After ”two further social workers at the heart of the Victoria Climbie child abuse scandal are sacked for gross misconduct” (BBC News, 2013), it is clear that the Criminal Justice System has established the fact that changes need to be made and the approaches to how members of staff are trained needs to be improved if the victims of such cases are to be aided to as they should be by a staff member of the criminal system, with high morale and the genuine intentions that should be had, for in cases of such depth and importance, an incredibly high standard must be maintained.
This essay will also address the Criminal Justice system itself as an institution designed to provide equality and justice, which in this case did neither of those two things before the death of Mubarek and similarly after, within reference to the difficulties Mubarek’s family faced when trying to bring justice to the death of their 19-year-old son. Individuals within society rely on the Criminal Justice System heavily in order to provide a sense of justice and security, whether they are victims of crimes themselves or not, some may be the families of victims or the families of criminals, believing that the system in place will allow them a sense of retribution, justice and even rehabilitation. Yet when the system fails them in such a way as it did with Mubarek and his family, it sheds light on the changes that should be altered in order to bring back the sense of justice previously lost. The Mubarek family themselves, after the horrific murder of their son Zahid, were not given justice by the Criminal Justice System, and ”In October 2003, the House of Lords ruled that David Blunkett had been wrong to refuse Zahid’s family a judicial inquiry into his death” (Institute of Race Relations, 2004), they had to wait continuously to receive insight into what happened to their own son and the injustice that had taken place. The family members of a crime such of this are vital within these cases, they need to be supported by the Criminal Justice System in order for the system itself to hold up against crime, the article continues to state that it is the Criminal Justice Systems duty ”to publicly investigate the death of an inmate due to prison system failures” (Institute of Race Relations, 2004), commenting on the fact that although the fault may be with the system itself, that does not mean it can be ignored, this will do nothing to support the families of the victims, the victim being an inmate is not a changing factor, justice still needs to be provided.
Certainly, it must be disputed, within connection to the Keith Report (2006) and the Stephen Lawrence inquiry (1999), as to why there were several opportunities to prevent this tragic injustice that were simply ignored, and to explore the multiple events to debate if it can be said as to where exactly things went wrong. When discussing racial attacks, a connection to be made would be with the case of Stephen Lawrence, a black 18-year-old who was immorally ”stabbed to death in an unprovoked attack by a gang of white youths” (BBC News, 2018). Mr and Mrs Lawrence themselves have openly stated that they ”fervently believe that their colour, culture and ethnic origin, and that of their murdered son, have throughout affected the way in which the case has been dealt with and pursued” (Macpherson Ch 6.1, 1999) and this again brings to conversation the underlining issue of institutionalised racism, which can be argued to run throughout the case of Zahid Mubarek. Comparing the two cases, when the Macpherson report states ”racism in general terms consists of conduct or words or practices which disadvantage or advantage people because of their colour, culture, or ethnic origin” (Macpherson Ch 6.4, 1999), it shows the differences within the cases of Mubarek and Lawrence, but how the underlying racism appeared in different sectors. The racism within the Stephen Lawrence case was not only towards Stephen himself as a victim, the family also felt that from the Criminal Justice System for not providing the support they needed because of their ethnicity, however in the case of Mubarek, a victim of a racist hate crime, the family, although similarly not provided with the support they should have been given, their main focus was with the withheld information due to the Criminal Justice Systems personal involvement.
Lastly, this essay will display the difficulties arising with a career within the Criminal Justice System and how these could plausibly be combated with appropriate regulations and training, especially in reference to training in equality. Throughout the various investigations into the Zahid Mubarek case in which there has been, there are several flaws within the Criminal Justice System that have been emphasised, these, in turn, highlight the difficulties that may arise through a career within this sector. In order for the Criminal Justice System to evolve into a stronger structure for individuals to rely on, there needs to be a sense of progression, so that it invokes a sense of justice and retribution. Zahid Mubarek’s family, after he was wrongly neglected by the Criminal Justice System, were then given no other options for justice, Mubarek Amin explaining ”why was he allowed to share a cell with this guy, when it was known he was a racist and trouble-maker?” (The Guardian, 2015), Mubarek’s family were in severe emotional distress after the loss of their son and they weren’t provided with the support that should lawfully be given, including all information and the right to an investigation by law. From cases such as these, the Criminal Justice System must be allowed to change in order to provide a morally correct structure for the public.
To conclude, there are several major injustices and misconducts in reference to the case of Zahid Mubarek, first being the idea that institutional racism within Feltham and the Criminal Justice System itself played a key role that failed to prevent the tragic death, instead allowing Mubarek to be subject to the extreme results of a racist agenda, that of Robert Stewart. Furthermore, when linking to the Hillsborough disaster, it is clear that the criminal justice system has flaws within its training of police for such situations, as well as the extreme lack of communication that in both cases, resulted in fatal consequences. The Criminal Justice System has various faults that cannot singularly be labelled as the cause of Mubarek’s preventable death, however, it can be said that these various causes together, may have potentially exposed Mubarek to the incident that eventually occurred. Furthermore, the case of Robert Stewart and Zahid Mubarek highlights specific changes that need to be made within the Criminal Justice System we have in place presently.
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