UK apologizes for hanging a somali man 70 years ago

South wales police has delivered a formal apology to the family of a father who was wrongly convicted of murder 70 years after he was executed in a British prison.

Mahmood Mattan, a British Somali and former seaman, was hanged in 1952 after he was convicted of killing shopkeeper Lily Volpert in her store in Cardiff. South Wales Police have apologized and admitted the prosecution was “flawed”.

The Mattan family received compensation from the Home Office in 2001 but never had an apology from the police force until now. The legal team that represented the Mattan family at the Court of Appeal claimed he had been the victim of institutionalized racism as vital evidence to his case was not made available at his trial.

Mr Mattan, originally from Hargeisa in what was then known as British Somaliland, was one of thousands of seamen from overseas that made Cardiff docks their home after settling in the UK following World War Two.

A year after arriving in Wales, he married local girl Laura in 1947. But such was the prejudice and opposition towards their interracial marriage, the young couple were forced to live separately on the same street.