Murder Inquiry Cites Racial Element
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By Somalilandtimes network
London, UK, March 6, 2006 – Detectives claim the murder of a white man whose mother has Somali roots may have been racially-motivated.
Lee Phipps was found slumped on an elderly woman's doorstep after he was fatally stabbed, including a wound to the heart, on Thursday afternoon.
The blond 31-year-old lived with his mother Barbara Yusuf-Porter in King George Road, South Shields, South Tyneside, and both previously made a series of complaints about racial harassment.
At a news conference today, police said Mr. Phipps had never been in trouble, and he had not been robbed.
He was a keen photographer and had intended to take shots of the snowy landscape around his home that afternoon, but police who found his camera said no photos were taken.
Mr. Phipps was on incapacity benefit because he suffered from panic attacks and anxiety.
Officers were now reviewing the basis for the family's complaints as an active line of inquiry.
Det Supt Steve Wade, leading the murder investigation, said: "At this time we do not know the motive for his attack, however, because of the previous reported racist incidents, this will be a line of inquiry that we will vigorously pursue."
Despite extensive searches in the snow, police have yet to find where Mr. Phipps was attacked, and believed he may have been stabbed away from where he was found by a dog walker.
Source: ITN
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