A tree surgeon accused of being part of a hooded mob that attacked Kingston Mosque has said he was a happy go lucky man who did not know there was a mosque in the town.
Terry Earl, 32, is on trial along with eight other men who all deny being part of a mob that attacked the mosque with beer bottles and sticks on Sunday, November 21, 2010.
Prosecutor Gopal Hooper asked him if it was “complete coincidence” he had walked from the King’s Tun pub after an English Defence League rally to the mosque in East Road. He asked: “Why did you turn into East Road?”
Mr Earl, of Northolt, replied: “I don’t know. I’m a happy go lucky guy. I didn’t know where I was going.” He said he did not know there was a mosque in Kingston.
Asked why CCTV showed him at the front of about 15 to 20 people walking in Richmond Road towards the mosque, he said: “I wasn’t leading them in any way whatsoever.”
He told the court he dropped behind to help an elderly woman, saying: “I remember there was an old lady struggling to get up the kerb with her shopping trolley and I put my arm up to help her get up the kerb.”