A Muslim teenager who suffered a slew of sickening racial taunts at school told how he “flipped” moments before threatening a fellow student with a knife.
Hassaan Mansoor, aged 17, snapped following vicious abuse from classroom bullies at Garnock Academy who branded him a “terrorist”. Mr Mansoor, of Howat Crescent in Irvine, was warned that because his mother wore a headscarf she would be stabbed if she came to school.
Appearing at Kilmarnock Sheriff Court, he was spared jail and given a year’s supervision and told to serve 130 hours of unpaid work.
Outside court, an emotional Mr Mansoor said: “The abuse had been going on for so long but nobody did anything about it. I said sorry to the boy right after I took the multi-tool out of my pocket. I’m sorry for what I did and it’s the only time I’ve ever been in trouble. It was totally out of character and it only happened because of what they had been doing to me for so long. I went to another school after that and the abuse stopped.”
Mr Mansoor was one of just two Asian students and the only Muslim at 1300-pupil Garnock Academy in Kilbirnie. The court heard that his knife threat came after “prolonged and horrific racist bullying” in the classroom and canteen.