Three Asian men were today found guilty and jailed for life for the murder of Kriss Donald, the schoolboy who was killed in a brutal racially-aggravated attack.

Imran Shahid, his brother Zeeshan Shahid, and Mohammed Faisal Mushtaq, had denied the charge but were convicted of the abduction, assault and murder of the 15-year-old at the High Court in Edinburgh. A jury of six men and nine women took eight hours to find Imran Shahid guilty by unanimous verdict and the other two guilty by majority verdicts.

Imran Shahid, 29, was ordered to spend at least 25 years behind bars while his brother was given 23 years, and 27-year-old Mushtaq handed 22 years. During the trial, it emerged that all three had spent time in custody for previous offences.

Kriss’s scarred and partially-clothed body was discovered on the Clyde Walkway in the East End of Glasgow, near Celtic FC’s training ground, on March 16, 2004. The previous day, he had been abducted, stabbed repeatedly and set on fire while he was still alive.

The innocent teenager was walking near his home with a friend when he was snatched in Pollokshields, Glasgow, in a random act of racially-motivated revenge by an Asian gang. As he was pulled into the vehicle, he is said to have pleaded: "I’m only 15, what did I do?"

The teenager was driven on a terrifying 200-mile journey across Scotland before being taken back to Glasgow and led to a secluded spot in on the banks of the River Clyde, where he was brutally attacked and left for dead.

The murder led to an investigation that lasted more than two years and took the case to Pakistan in the search for killers.

As the verdict was delivered Angela, Kriss's mother, shouted "You b******s" and was hugged by supporters. During the case, as the agonising details of her son’s injuries unfolded, Ms Donald, who had been in court throughout, had to leave the room.

Passing sentence, Judge Lord Uist said that none of the three had shown "any remorse" for their actions. "Your victim must have been in a state of extreme terror when held by you on a four-hour car journey across central Scotland and back," he said. "The agony which he must have suffered during the period between being stabbed and set alight and his death is just beyond imagination."

The judge said that Imran Shahid was the leader of the killing, describing him as a "thug and a bully with a sadistic nature…not fit to be at liberty in a civilised society".

"This murder consists of the premeditated, cold-blooded execution of your victim by stabbing him 13 times and setting alight with petrol while he was still alive. It truly was an abomination."

During the trial, Mark Stewart QC, for the prosecution, described the killing as "an appalling crime of inhumanity against a defenceless boy".

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