More revelations of Feltham racism

New details of appalling abuse at Feltham Young Offender Institution have emerged at an inquiry into a racist murder there.

Warders handcuffed a prisoner to his cell bars, pulled down his trousers and smeared black boot polish on his buttocks, an inquiry has heard.

The Prison Service is understood to have paid compensation of £30,000 to the victim after the extraordinary punishment. The ethnic minority prisoner was assaulted by white staff in what is believed to have been a racially motivated attack.

Three officers were disciplined over the incident but while all received final written warnings, none lost their jobs.

The case went to court where they claimed their behaviour was nothing more than " horseplay", but the prosecution collapsed when a key witness failed to turn up.

All three warders were still working at Feltham two years later when Asian teenager Zahid Mubarek was beaten to death by his cellmate, a known violent racist.

The boot polish incident emerged at a public inquiry into Mr Mubarek's murder, which happened in March 2000.

The inquiry is examining claims that racism was rife among staff at the institution and that prison authorities missed a series of opportunities to avert the killing. Patrick O'Connor QC, representing the Mubarek family, called the boot polish incident "shocking" and said it was "plainly inadequate" that the warders had merely been issued with warnings.

Mr Justice Keith, the judge chairing the public inquiry, commented: "The obvious criticism here is the nature of the disciplinary sanction."

The unnamed victim of the boot polish attack was aged between 18 and 21 at the time and thought to be a foreign national. The disciplinary tribunal which decided to let the three warders keep their jobs was presided over by the governor of another prison, which was no t named.

Former Feltham governor Nicholas Pascoe, who took over after Mr Mubarek's murder and is credited with turning the prison around, told the inquiry that the boot polish incident, was "disgraceful".

He said: "The shoe polish - you may wish to infer there was a racial element to that." Mr Pascoe said that if he had been in charge of the disciplinary hearing, he would have taken a tougher line.

He added that the decision to let the warders off with warnings "sent out a poor message, that actually if you did this you would not be dismissed".

Mr Mubarek, from Walthamstow, was 19 when he was beaten with a table leg as he slept. He died hours before he was due to be released from a six-week sentence for stealing razor blades and interfering with a vehicle.

Robert Stewart, a skinhead from Manchester with "RIP" tattooed on his forehead and a long record of violence, is serving life for the murder. He was also 19 at the time.

In December, the inquiry heard details of a shocking catalogue of alleged racist abuse and discrimination by officers at Feltham. Black inmates were labelled as "drug dealers" or stereotyped as aggressive and violent.

A report submitted to the Commission for Racial Equality told how some prisoners were referred to as "monkeys" or "black bastards" and were told that "they should be sent back to their own country".

It has also been alleged that warders at Feltham ran a betting game they called " gladiator", in which fights were set up between black and white inmates. The inquiry continues.