A murderer recalled to prison after rapping about his crime has lost a bid to be released – but the parole board said he should be moved to an open jail.
Jake Fahri, 36, was 19 when he was given a life sentence in 2009 with a minimum term of 14 years for the murder of 16-year-old Jimmy Mizen.
Jimmy bled to death after Fahri threw an oven dish which shattered on the schoolboy’s chin and severed an artery in his neck in a south London bakery on 10 May 2008.
He was released on licence in June 2023 and his music, released under the name TEN, was played on BBC 1Xtra less than 18 months later.
The rapper, who concealed his identity with a balaclava, had lyrics with violent themes, including one song which appears to reference Jimmy’s death.
In the track, he raps about “sharpening” a blade, adding: “Judge took a look at me, before the trial even started he already knows he’s gonna throw the book at me.”
Another track includes the lines: “See a man’s soul fly from his eyes and his breath gone… I wanted more, it made it less wrong. Seeing blood spilled same floor he was left on.”
Jimmy’s parents Barry and Margaret said they were “stunned into silence” when they were told about Fahri’s music, which which was first reported in The Sun last year.
Fahri was recalled to prison last January as a Probation Service spokesperson said Jimmy’s family deserved “better than to see their son’s murderer shamelessly boasting about his violent crime”.
He applied to be released again at a parole board hearing last month, but the panel refused, instead recommending he should be released to an open prison, which must be approved by Justice Secretary David Lammy.
Jimmy’s father Barry told Sky News he’s “happy to accept the decision” and believes Fahri should have been moved to an open prison before his previous release.
“The trust they put in him was thrown back at them,” he said.
“Hopefully that (open conditions) will work. It’s up to him really about how he goes about things.”
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A summary of the decision published on Tuesday said Fahri initially denied he was the rapper to his probation officer, but admitted he was TEN after his recall to prison.
He disputed the music was all about his own life in evidence to the panel, which said it was “not persuaded that he had provided an open and honest account of his music and that his failure to disclose the music work to his probation officer had been a breach of his licence”.
The panel also saw evidence Fahri had claimed on social media he had acted in self-defence after Jimmy attacked him, but he denied responsibility for the post and accepted he was the aggressor.
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After the controversy last year, the BBC said TEN’s songs do not feature on any BBC playlists, and that the track which appeared to reference Jimmy’s death had never been played on its channels.
A spokesman for the broadcaster added there were “no further plans to play his music”, adding: “We were not aware of his background and we in no way condone his actions.”
