THE murder of Kriss Donald was an appalling crime of inhumanity against a defenceless boy for racial motives, a court was told yesterday.

Advocate-depute Mark Stewart, QC, prosecuting, also said in his closing speech to the jury at the High Court in Edinburgh that the killing was carried out with extraordinary rage and thirst for vengeance.

Zeeshan Shahid, 28, together with his brother Imran, 29, and Mohammed Faisal Mushtaq, 27, who were brought back from Pakistan to stand trial, deny the murder charge and blame others for the death of Kriss.

Mr Stewart suggested that trips to Pakistan by the three men were an "unimaginable coincidence". He claimed the evidence during the trial showed that all three accused had been acting together.

"The involvement of each in this dreadful deed would be shown at the beginning, in the middle and at the end, " he said.

The lawyer also warned the jury of nine women and six men that sentiment must play no part in their verdict.

During more than four weeks of evidence, the trial has heard how Kriss, 15, was snatched from a street in the Pollokshields area of Glasgow, driven to Dundee and back in a silver Mercedes and finally stabbed, doused with petrol and set on fire.

The schoolboy's burned and bloodied body was found beside the Clyde Walkway near Celtic's training ground on the morning of March 16, 2004. "That crime can be described as one of the worst and most appalling crimes of inhumanity against an effectively defenceless boy, " said Mr Stewart.

"But it is essential, ladies and gentlemen, that while these sentiments cannot be ignored they must be banished from your thinking when considering the guilt or innocence of these men."

He went on to claim that forensic, technical and eyewitness evidence about the events of March 15, 2004 - including alleged attempts at a cover-up - proved his case.

The three accused had also "disappeared abroad in an attempt to avoid detection", added Mr Stewart.

The lawyer also claimed the three accused had condemned themselves "from their own mouths" by things they had said about their intentions when they were setting out, statements during the crime itself and admissions of responsibility afterwards.

"The murder of Kriss Donald is one which, you may think, makes their attempts in the course of this trial to divert attention away from the evidence by attacking the character of Crown witnesses all the more shameful, particularly when many of these people were their own former friends and associates."

One man, Daanish Zahid, 22, is already serving a life sentence for abducting and murdering Kriss.

Another, Zahid Mohammed, 22, served half of a five-year jail sentence for assaulting Kriss and lying to police then returned to court to give evidence against the three men now on trial.

Mr Stewart said it was no part of these proceedings to look at the decision to drop a murder charge against Zahid Mohammed. "There was no murder charge hanging over him when he started giving his evidence, " said Mr Stewart.

He reminded them how Zahid Mohammed had told of Imran Shahid's "unreasonable and extraordinary rage and thirst for vengeance" had followed a supposed incident in a Glasgow city-centre nightclub.

Imran Shahid blamed "white boys" from McCulloch Street, Pollokshields, for a bottle attack and threatened to "chop them up and take their eyes out". Mr Stewart added: "It is clear, ladies and gentlemen, this enterprise had a racist motive."

Mr Stewart yesterday said he was dropping all other charges against the three, to "clear the decks" and allow the jury to focus on the abduction and murder allegations.

The trial continues.