THE son of a man who was murdered in a Burnley park said his father would still be alive if police had responded to his call for help.

Umar Shafiq, 18, said police his father, Mohammed, had told them about a possible attack half-an-hour before he was stabbed to death.

He was speaking after Mohammed Bilal Bhatti, 19, changed his plea to admit murdering Mr Shafiq, 50, who bled to death after sustaining a seven-inch deep stab wound to the body in Thompson Park, Burnley.

After the case the Independent Police Complaints Commission said their investigation had found the level of service offered to Mr Shafiq, of York Steet, Nelson, fell below accepted standards.

Three other defandants also changed their pleas yesterday on the fifth day of their trial at Manchester Crown Court.

Shazad Akhtar, 17, of Scott Park Road, Burnley, pleaded guilty to manslaughter and violent disorder. The court had heard he delivered a heavy blow to the back of Mr Shafiq’s head during the ‘brutal’ attack.

The two other defendants, Omar Khalid, 19, of Fairfield Drive, Burnley, and Shazad’s older brother Shadab Akhtar, 19, also of Scott Park Road, Burnley, pleaded guilty to violent disorder in connection with the fight.

Umar, who was given the chance to listen to his father’s final phone call, said: “She (the operator) did not deal with it properly. She was shouting at him and over him.

“She could have put him through to emergency services herself.

“I blame them for what happened. The police were not there at all.

“He would have still been alive if the police had arrived.”

Mr Shafiq’s wife, Shagufta, 38, said the family had to move out of their home over fears for her family’s safety and she did not know if they would return to Nelson.

She said: “Because of the murder there were going to be repercussions. I had to leave for the safety of my family in case something happened to them.

“It’s not just one life that was destroyed but the lives of eight people.

“And whatever happens now I will never get my husband back.”

The trial had been told that the four defendants had carried out a campaign of intimidation against Umar after Shadab Akhtar was charged with assaulting him in October 2007.

Shadab Akhtar had attacked Umar after accusing him of giving him a dirty look and had subsequently threatened Umar to get him to drop the charges, the court was told.

On March 4 Mr Shafiq had been told there was going to be a confrontation at Thompson Park between Umar and the group. He called the police but when he was not offered any help decided to go to meet his son.

Umar said he and his father had not intended to fight the group but Mr Shafiq was attacked first by Shazad Akhtar and then Bhatti.

After the stabbing Bhatti was said to have showed the others a knife and said: “I just stabbed someone. Ain’t I cool”.

Umar said that he was not happy with the offences the other three members of the gang had pleaded to.

He said: “Shazad deliberately hit my father on the head with a metal bar a number of times.

“We can’t move on because we feel justice has not been done. They say time heals but it has not for us.

“We are not happy that Shazad pleaded guilty to manslaughter - it was cold blooded murder. They are not human beings, they are animals.”

Umar, who has taken on two-part time jobs in a restaurant and Primark to help support his family, added: “My father was an honest man, a good father husband and brother and we all miss him.

“My father was the main breadwinner and I now have this responsibility on my shoulders. It is hard to look after everyone. His death has left a hole in our lives that no one else can fill.”

Mr Shafiq’s sister, Yasmin Rafiq, paid tribute to her brother saying the last few months had left the family ‘exhausted’ and ‘mentally drained’.

Detective Inspector Peter Broome said: “This was an unnecessary, brutal, sustained attack on an innocent man by a number of people who showed no respect for life. The level of violence that escalated in such a short space of time was despicable.

“In my 26 years of experience I have not come across such a group of people who have so celebrated the death of another human being.

“These young men have been confronted with the details of the crime they committed and having seen the evidence have decided to plead guilty. It’s a pity they didn’t do it earlier.”

Chief Superintendent Sarah Oldham, operations manager for policing in Burnley Pendle and Rossendale, said the community had come together after the incident.

Responding to Umar’s comments over blaming the police, she added: “There is only one person that killed Mr Shafiq and he is awaiting sentencing. One person took the knife into that park and killed him.”

Investigators from the IPCC said they had found that the operator ‘failed to recognise the seriousness of the situation’ and missed key information as she was speaking over Mr Shafiq.

The operator failed to adhere to recognised standards and practices, and failed to recognise the need to dispatch police officers to the incident, an inquiry found.

Naseem Malik, IPCC north west commissioner, said: “Mr Shafiq contacted Lancashire Constabulary with real concerns about the welfare of his son.

“However he did not receive the service he needed and decided to deal with the situation himself, with tragic consequences. My sympathies go out to Mr Shafiq’s family and friends.”

Detective Chief Supt Clive Tattum, head of Lancashire Constabulary’s professional standards department, said: “It was recognised immediately that there were concerns focusing on the conversation Mr Shafiq had with the communications room operator.

“We have received the findings of that investigation and they are currently under consideration. We will be considering the appropriate course of action with regards to the individual member of staff and the public should be reassured that we have looked into this to prevent this occurring in the future.”

No disciplinary action has yet been taken against the operator, police have confirmed.