A public inquiry into the murder of an Asian young offender by his racist cellmate will investigate claims that prison officers set up "gladiator-style" fights between black and white inmates.
Four new witnesses will be questioned at the inquiry into Zahid Mubarek’s death in Feltham Young Offenders Institution, which begins this week.
The step could lead to calls for charges to be brought when the inquiry makes its final report.
An inquiry spokesperson said: "These allegations are so serious that Mr Justice Keith [the inquiry chairman] feels his independent inquiry is duty-bound to investigate them - even though the police investigation has been concluded with no charges being brought."
Mubarek, 19, was killed by Robert Stewart in March 2000.
Four months before battering Mubarek to death with a table leg, Stewart, now 24, was identified as suffering from a "deep-seated" personality disorder.
The inquiry, which is expected to last until March, will hear evidence from more than 100 witnesses including past and present Feltham staff. A spokesperson for the inquiry said it could not confirm who had made the allegations.
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