POLICE apologised to Ryelands race hate victim Mal Hussain this week.

The apology was for their handling of his case during the past eight and a half years although they denied racism was a factor.

Mr Hussain and his fellow campaigners were pleased with the apology but argued that the police should acknowledge racism was a reason for the police failure, the report should be made public and they want positive action from the police.

The group 'Friends of Mal Hussain' are now considering their legal options against the police and Lancaster City Council for allegedly failing to ensure Mr Hussain's safety.

The police did outline a number of proposals to make sure Mr Hussain is kept safe including installing a key personal officer overseen by a senior command officer, an intelligence led file looking at all the incidents involving Mr Hussain and quicker response times.

At a public meeting called by the Friends of Mal Hussain last week specialist London race relations lawyer Lee Jasper commented: "We would expect all those measures to be in place anyway. The authorities should be aware we will use every legal option we can for Mal."

In a letter to Mr Hussain Asst Chf Con Paul Stephenson wrote: "What is clear is that, particularly in the early years, we did not meet our own high standards, or your expectations, for dealing with incidents of this kind. For that I am very sorry."

The Police Authority will consider whether to release the full report at their next meeting in August.

The Friends of Mal Hussain plan to raise £120,000 to buy out the shop for a Trust and will stage a special fund-raising walk next month. "I want to make sure that the good people of Ryelands are served well when I leave," said Mal Hussain. "If they can raise the money for the shop I know that will happen. Shops like mine are very important for communities like Ryelands."

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