Murdered cabbie 'payback victim'

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A white teenage gang used racist language as they beat an Asian taxi driver to death, a jury has heard.

Mohammad Parvaiz, 42, was lured down a cul-de-sac on the pretext of a fare and "ambushed", Leeds Crown Court was told.

He was hit with stones, dragged from his vehicle and beaten and kicked to death by six teenagers, it was said.

Michael Hand, 19, Graeme Slavin and Christopher Murphy, both 18, deny murder, as do three teenagers aged 16 and 17, who cannot be named.

Mr Parvaiz, a father-of-three, suffered a fractured skull and jaw, broken ribs and brain damage during the assault on July 22 this year, the jury was told.

He was pronounced dead in hospital. The Crown's case is this was an attack motivated principally by revenge and payback Adrian Waterman QC, prosecuting

Prosecuting, Adrian Waterman QC said: "During and after the attack the defendants displayed a racist attitude.

"Mr Parvaiz is an Asian male. He was from Pakistan. Racist language was used, some very ugly racist language at that.

"The Crown's case is this was an attack motivated principally by revenge and payback for what happened some weeks previously."

The court heard Mr Parvaiz had become inadvertently caught up in a dispute between neighbours in Huddersfield.

Several weeks before his death the jury was told rival Asian and white youths had clashed in the area.

During the dispute, one of the defendants, Christopher Murphy, had his scooter damaged by a group of Asian men.

Mr Parvaiz's taxi was used to transport some of the Asian men to the property where the dispute took place, the court heard.

But he was merely the taxi driver and not otherwise involved, the prosecution said.

The trial is continuing.