A man accused of making improvised explosives and plotting to blow up mosques and Islamic centres will stand trial next year.
Ian Forman, 41, of Shavington Avenue in Prenton, Birkenhead has been charged with engaging in the conduct in the preparation of terrorist acts on or before 6 June. He was remanded in custody at the Old Bailey until a hearing on 14 January when he will be asked to enter a plea. His trial has been set for 3 March. The location of the trial has not been confirmed.
A woman arrested for breaching bail conditions shouted racist abuse at the police officer taking her back to the police station. Blackburn magistrates heard the officer, who had 10 years’ service, had never experienced such bad racist abuse which lasted the whole of the eight-minute journey to Greenbank police station. And as they drove into the police station, Jasmine Astin was shouting “EDL”.
Well, that’s what Patrick Sookhdeo of the right-wing evangelical Christian Barnabas Fund says.
Condemning David Cameron’s statement that the Somali terrorist group al-Shabaab “don’t represent Islam or Muslims in Britain or anywhere else in the world”, in an editorial on the Barnabas Fund website, Sookhdeo objects that this was as bad as Cameron’s claim after the murder of Lee Rigby that “there is nothing in Islam that justified this dreadful act”.
“While world leaders continue to fail to understand, or perhaps accept, the ideological basis within Islam for acts of violence,” Sookhdeo asserts, “they will never get to grips with the likes of al-Shabaab. To say that ‘they don’t represent Islam or Muslims in Britain or anywhere else in the world’ is flagrantly untrue.”
Three criminals tied up a shop assistant and threatened to slash his throat in a botched robbery in Notts.
Andrew Wheelhouse, 31, David Mura, 26, and Guramit Singh Kalirai, 31, went into gardening shop Simply Hydro, in Wigwam Lane, Hucknall, at about 12.30pm on Thursday, May 2, with the intention of raiding it. They attacked a shop assistant, pinned him to the ground and threatened to slash his throat if he did not give them money.
A former soldier from Livingston posted furious messages on a Facebook page urging people to “behead ragheads” on the day Drummer Lee Rigby was brutally murdered. Ex-infantryman Paul Fisher – who served two tours of duty in Iraq – claimed he was venting his anger following the killing outside Royal Artillery Barracks in Woolwich, London.
Livingston Sheriff Court heard the 28-year-old – who suffers from combat stress – went on to the “Stop Destroying Our Armed Forces” Facebook page after being told soldiers were being banned from wearing their uniforms in public. Police officers in North Yorkshire who were monitoring the site – which had over 18,000 members – spotted the post and passed the information on to their colleagues in Scotland.
Fisher, who was described as having an “exemplary” service record in the army, admitted that his racist message was “intended to incite others to carry out serious violence and kill others”.
Fiscal depute Catherine Knowles, prosecuting, said Fisher told cops who asked who he was referring to in his posts that they were aimed at “extremists”.
She said: “When asked about posting to behead people he said that he did that out of anger but understood the gravity of the post and that people reading it would get the wrong impression. He was asked about the term ‘ragheads’ and stated this was an Army term from when he served in Iraq. He stated on a number of occasions he was not a racist.”
Fisher, of Dedridge, Livingston, appeared for sentence last week after earlier pleading guilty to committing a breach of the peace by his use of social media on May 22.
Seven right-wing thugs who attacked a Liverpool City Centre anti-fascist meeting were jailed after admitting charges of violent disorder.
The men, who were either members of or associated with groups including the National Front, the English Defence Force or North West Infidels punched and kicked people heading for a fundraising gig at the News From Nowhere Bookshop on July 6 last year.
CCTV footage shown to Liverpool Crown Court showed the men, led by 25-year-old Liam Pinkham, running across Bold Street and attacking a smaller group walking past the Cafe Tabac bar and restaurant.
The attackers, some of whom were wearing masks, punched and kicked their victims who were pursued into the Tabac where the violence continued, sending tables and chairs flying.
Anya Horwood, prosecuting, said: “It would appear that the motivation for this violent disorder was polarised political opinions and personal enmity. The attacking group shared right-wing beliefs and the victims anti-fascist.”
Writing in the Sun, Rod Liddle takes issue with David Cameron’s statement that the horrific killings in Nairobi “don’t represent Islam or Muslims in Britain or anywhere else in the world”. Liddle concedes that only a “small minority of Muslims” support such actions, but says that the perpetrators were nevertheless Muslims:
A religious school in east London has been accused of requiring face veils for girls as young as 11 to be worn as part of its uniform policy. Conservative councillor Peter Golds said children should not be forced to wear the veil.
The dress code at Madani Girls’ School in Myrdle Street, Whitechapel, states that all pupils must wear a black burka and long black coat when outside.
Cllr Golds said: “I have concerns about children being forced to wear a garb for which there is no theological requirement. One would expect children at any school with a religious ethos to be dressed modestly, but not covered up. This is a decision that they should make as an adult.”
But in a statement, the school said it had been “misrepresented” and did not impose face veils on pupils. It said the word “burka” in its uniform policy refers to the jilbaab, which it described as “an outer garment, from shoulder to ankle length”.
A plan to open a ‘car-free’ mosque in Worcester Park was rejected after councillors dismissed the idea no-one would drive to it. Sutton Council refused planning permission for a mosque to be opened in the old Bank Chambers building in Green Lane near the junction with Green Lane at a heated meeting last night.
The scheme was rejected after councillors on the development control committee refused to accept the developers claims that no-one would drive to the mosque and said plans would exacerbate and already-existing problem with traffic in the area. It is the second time an application to convert the building, which has been abandoned for more than four years, has gone before the council.
At approximately 12.00pm today the East London Mosque and London Muslim Centre management was contacted by police, alerting us to a possible bomb threat.
The entire complex was evacuated safely, whilst mosque staff assisted police in checking for any suspicious packages.
The buildings were declared safe an hour later, just before the midday prayers. Dilowar Khan, our Executive Director, later informed worshippers to report any suspicious behaviour or packages to staff.
We remain vigilant in the face of such threats.