POLICE have apologised to a grieving family for failings by its officers during an inquiry into the death of a takeaway driver in a gang attack.

The Lothian and Borders force admitted the case of Chinese-born Simon San should have been treated as a racist attack from the start of the investigation.

Mr San, 40, died a year ago after being assaulted by youths near the takeaway where he worked in Lochend Road, Edinburgh.

Mistakes revealed by an internal police inquiry, made public yesterday, have led his relatives to renew their calls for the Lord Advocate Frank Mulholland to hold an immediate inquiry -- a move the Crown Office refused last night.

Deputy Chief Constable Steve Allen said: “There is no doubt that Simon’s family have not had the service from my force that we would hope to give any family or any victim of crime.

“I have apologised privately to the family for that failure and would like to repeat that apology publicly.”

He added: “I am sorry that we did not listen to you when you told us you thought the attack on Simon was racially motivated.

“I am sorry that we did not treat you in a way that made you feel like you mattered to us.

“I am sorry that we did not record and investigate the attack on Simon as a racist incident when we should have done so.

“Simon was not in the wrong place at the wrong time. Simon was at his place of work in a city that was his home.

“Simon was a fellow citizen who was killed tragically and pointlessly.”

Mr San’s father, Trieu Seng San, said he is now facing the “darkest moment of his life”, adding: “I, along with my family, am very angry with the treatment we received from Lothian and Borders Police.

“The findings do not offer me any peace; they merely confirm that we were right that we have not been treated appropriately by the officers.”

Their lawyer, Aamer Anwar, said : “The San family will never forgive the officers who were responsible for the unnecessary pain they have caused the family. The police inquiry may be over, but we now expect the Lord Advocate to order an immediate inquiry into their prosecution of this case.”

He added: “Following a robust and transparent inquiry by Lothian and Borders Police, it seems bizarre that -- rather than helping the family -- the Crown Office has responded by simply dismissing an inquiry out of hand.”

The force denied the failings were systemic but admitted they were significant. A number of officers face being disciplined.

During the review, it emerged one of the three youths involved had been asso- ciated with a racist organisation and the two others had been involved in a previous

incident involving a Chinese shopkeeper.

John Reid, 16, admitted culpable homicide and was locked up for five years by a judge who said he and the others had acted like “pack animals”.

Michael Roberts, 16, and Keir Rodger, 16, received shorter sentences for rocking the victims car and forcing him to leave the vehicle just before the fatal punch was thrown.

Mr San’s family always maintained his death was racially motivated.

Legislation introduced in 1998 made it an offence to pursue a racially-aggravated course of conduct to harass a person and to act in a racially aggravated manner.

Labour’s justice spokeswoman Johann Lamont said: “The Crown Office should be open and transparent about their handling of this case and should hold an inquiry.”

A Crown Office spokesman said: “The Crown was alert to the question of racial motivation from the beginning of the investigation and raised the issue with the police at an early stage.

“After careful consideration of all the available evidence provided to the Crown by the police, Crown Counsel concluded that there was no evidence to show that the attack on Mr San was racially motivated.

“We can confirm the Lord Advocate will not be instructing an inquiry and is satisfied with the Crown’s prosecution of the case.”

A Scottish Government spokesman said: “This was a despicable crime. Lothian and Borders Police have issued a full apology, and our condolences are with the family and friends of Mr San.”

 

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