A culture of “defeatism” was rife among staff at Feltham Young Offender Institution at the time of Asian teenager Zahid Mubarek’s murder, an inquiry heard today, writes Maria Ahmed.

Staff shortages led to “daily crisis management”, Michael Cowan, head of operations at Feltham, told the public inquiry into Mubarek’s death.

Mubarek, 19, was battered to death with a table leg by his racist cellmate Robert Stewart in March 2000.

Cowan told the inquiry the prison was “under a great deal of pressure” at the time of the murder.

Prison officers had “little time” to read prisoners records, he addmitted.

The way information was passed around Feltham was “hit and miss", he added.

There were few procedures for assessing cell-sharing risks cells were allocated on a “fairly random basis”, said Cowan. 

The inquiry continues.