Family demands inquest over executed Briton

Mr Shaikh, 53, was convicted of heroin smuggling in China and executed by lethal injection last week in spite of pleas for clemency from human rights campaigners and the Government.

His family have written to Foreign Secretary David Miliband urging him to call for an inquest to be held into his death.

Mr Shaikh's brother Akbar wrote: "My family is suffering incredible grief and torment over the many unanswered questions surrounding Akmal's death. We have begged the Chinese for answers, but none have been forthcoming.

"All this uncertainty is just too much for the family to bear.

"We therefore implore you to direct a coroner's inquest so that some of our questions can be answered, and the terrible mysteries surrounding my brother's apparent death, 7,000 miles from his family and all alone, can be resolved for us."

Mr Shaikh's family, who are supported by human rights charity Reprieve, argue that the Government have the power to call for an inquest.

Reprieve director Clive Stafford Smith said: "Despite having flown to China to be with him, Akmal Shaikh's family were not told of his death until he was already apparently buried in the frozen soil of Urumqi.

"Nobody told the family how or where he would be killed. No family member or independent observer was allowed to witness his death, view his body or verify his burial.

"We have only the word of a Chinese Press release that he was even killed. An inquest would give this grieving family a crucial insight into Akmal's final hours, his mental state and the extent to which he suffered before he died.

"Only then can they begin to recover from the trauma of Akmal's lonely and senseless death."

Shaikh was believed to be seriously mentally ill with bipolar disorder. Campaigners said in spite of his obvious problems an assessment of his mental health was not carried out for the Chinese courts.

Some 27 separate representations were made at ministerial level on Shaikh's behalf to the Chinese authorities as intense efforts were made to spare his life.

Shaikh, a former minicab firm's manager, from Kentish Town, north London, who was arrested in Urumqi, north-west China, in September 2007, was convicted of smuggling 4kg (8.8lb) of heroin into the country.