A convicted killer, Jake Fahri, who allegedly released rap music about his murder of a teenager, has been recommended for transfer to an open prison by the Parole Board.
Fahri, then 19, received a life sentence in 2009 with a minimum term of 14 years for the killing of 16-year-old schoolboy Jimmy Mizen. On 10 May 2008, in a south London bakery, Fahri threw an oven dish at Jimmy, which shattered and severed blood vessels in his neck. Witnesses reported seeing Fahri swaggering from the shop with a smile.
Fahri was released on licence in June 2023 but was recalled in January 2025 following the Ministry of Justice reporting that the Sun newspaper was publishing a story about him producing drill music including details about the murder.
The Sun newspaper had claimed that Fahri is masked drill artist Ten – who was showcased on BBC 1Xtra, and that in one of his tracks available on Spotify and YouTube the balaclava-clad rapper appeared to reference Jimmy’s death.
In a Parole Board decision summary document, it said that Fahri gave evidence to the panel disputing the music “was all about his own life” but noted that since his recall he had accepted he was the artist known as Ten in the videos.
It added: “The panel 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 identified a number of other licence breaches.
“Mr Fahri had failed to disclose his use of the name Ten to Probation, he had breached his exclusion zone more than once, and he stayed overnight at an address that had not been approved by Probation.”
The summary said Fahri claimed he had been unaware of the restrictions and that he had breached his licence conditions because no one had been through them with him, but the panel found this to be untrue from evidence from Fahri’s probation officer.
At the oral hearing on December 16, Fahri and professional witnesses supported his re-release from prison, but it was opposed by the Justice Secretary who was represented at the proceedings.
The decision from the Parole Board found the panel was not satisfied that his release would be safe for the protection of the public.
It added: “The panel was mindful of the witnesses supporting release but it had less confidence than they did in the likelihood of Mr Fahri complying with the release plan.
“The panel determined that Mr Fahri needed to reflect on his attitude, thinking and behaviour, so that he could better understand himself, including why he failed to be open and honest with the professionals managing his case.
“It considered that this could be achieved in an open prison and recommended that Mr Fahri should be progressed in this way.”
Open prisons have minimal security and allow eligible prisoners to spend most of their day out of prison on licence, for example to carry out work or education.
It will be for Justice Secretary David Lammy to decide whether to accept this recommendation for Fahri.
