Jewish patrol group Shomrim offers protection to mosques amid rise in hate attacks

Hackney Jewish-Muslim meeting

A Jewish “police force” has offered protection to mosques in Hackney, following a spate of violent attacks on mosques. Shomrim, a uniformed Jewish patrol in Stamford Hill who are trained by the Met, patrol the area regularly looking for anti-Semitic hate crimes, and general disorder in the neighbourhood.

The volunteer group, similar to a Neighbourhood Watch, are trained to safely track and detain suspects until police arrive, and run a 24-hour hotline for those in the area to report attacks. The group was started by Jewish New Yorkers angry at lengthy police response times after crimes were reported.

Mosque elders met this weekend with Shomrim in the Cazenove Road Mosque and Community Centre to discuss cooperation between the two communities.

Continue reading

Bomb disposal experts are called to mosque in Walsall after suspicious item discovered

Aisha Mosque Walsall

Bomb disposal experts have been called to a mosque after the discovery of a suspicious item by a member of the public.

A police spokesman confirmed the suspicious item was reported to officers at 10.45pm on Saturday after it was found by a member of the public. Army experts ordered the evacuation of nearly 40 homes near the Rutter Street mosque in Walsall, West Midlands Police said.

Continue reading

Grimsby man who called for mosque to be burned down on far-right forum ‘did not know what the EDL stood for’

Steven Ballard FacebookThe man who posted a message on Facebook urging people to “burn the mosque” to “put Grimsby on the map big time” has urged people to think twice before using social networking sites. Steven Ballard apologised for the offensive remark he left on the forum which resulted in him ending up in court.

Continue reading

Footballer Shaun Tuck charged over mosque tweets

Shaun TuckA Merseyside footballer who allegedly encouraged people to riot and “bomb and gas every mosque in England” following the terrorist beheading of Drummer Lee Rigby has been charged by police. Witton Albion striker Shaun Tuck is to face magistrates in Liverpool next month accused of an offence under Section 127 of the Communications Act 2003.

Tuck, 26, of of Mollington Avenue, Norris Green, is alleged to have used his Twitter account to rage: “All the mosque’s in England now should be bombed or gassed out!!!… Or stormed by 50 lads machetes, swords the lot. An make a statement. Am raging in me loft here yno… Got the balaclava out, dusted down an ready for the meet. I’d be going through there door mate an taking there kids head off an killing whoever was in site!!”

Continue reading

EDL supporter banned from every mosque in Wales and England over arson attempt

John ParkinA former soldier has been banned from every mosque in Wales and England after attempting to attack his local mosque following the murder of drummer Lee Rigby in Woolwich.

The life-long ban was made as part of a CRASBO imposed on John Parkin, who drank 15 pints after he heard about the murder in London – then decided to try and burn down his local mosque. Parkin stuffed tissue into a bottle of beer and attempted to light it at the mosque in Rhyl.

Today he was jailed for 18 months and given an indefinite criminal anti-social behaviour order (CRASBO) was made under which he must not enter the mosque at River Street in Rhyl. It also bans him from entering the curtilage of any mosque in England and Wales.

Continue reading

Condemned: The racist call to burn down Grimsby mosque

A man urged people to burn down Grimsby’s mosque so the town could be put on the national map “big time”. Today, the dreadful comments, posted on Facebook, have been condemned by our mayor, who says: “This does not show the true face of North East Lincolnshire. The general public will be appalled by these comments.”

Steven Ballard was the second local man to be hauled before the courts in just two weeks for posting offensive comments about the mosque on the social networking site – and appeared just a day after a third man was remanded in custody charged with firebombing the Weelsby Road venue last month. Ballard, 27, of Churchill Way, Grimsby, admitted sending an offensive or menacing message on May 23.

Rebecca Dolby, prosecuting, told Grimsby magistrates that police searched an open group forum on Facebook linked to the Grimsby division of the English Defence League. Ballard posted a message at about 10pm following the murder of soldier Lee Rigby at Woolwich. It read: “Burn the mosque down the end of Legsby Avenue. That will tell the clowns in charge in this country that we ain’t taking this s*** and it will start a nationwide action going. Grimsby will be on the map big time then.”

Continue reading

Two charged with Gloucester mosque arson

Masjid-E-Noor GloucesterA Cheltenham man has been charged with conspiracy to commit arson following a “hate crime” at a mosque.

Ashley Henry Juggins, 20, of Brooklyn Road will appear before magistrates today following the blaze in Gloucester. Clive Michael Ceronne, 37, of Redwood Close in Gloucester faces a similar charge after an attack on Masjid-E-Noor in Ryecroft Street in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

Police confirmed yesterday it was being treated as a hate crime after CCTV appeared to show someone pouring petrol around the door and igniting it with a lit rag.

Since the attack police have been talking to the Muslim community in Cheltenham to allay fears. They have vowed to step up patrols around Gloucester’s mosques and said the two in Cheltenham were on current routes.

Continue reading

Second man arrested after hate attack on Gloucester mosque

Masjid-E-Noor arson (2)Police patrols are being stepped up around mosques in Gloucester after an arson “hate attack” on Masjid-E-Noor.

Police have arrested a 37-year-old Gloucester man after the doors of the mosque, in Ryecroft Street, were set on fire in the early hours of yesterday.

A second man was arrested last night on suspicion of arson, following the mosque attack. Police said the 20-year-old man, believed to be from Cheltenham, was arrested overnight.

Continue reading