Three men have been charged with posting offensive messages on the Stop The Astley Bridge Mosque Facebook page. All three have been charged with racially aggravated malicious communications.
Leon Richmond, aged 18, of Whalley Avenue, Bolton, and Darren Hubble, aged 23, of Orrell Hall Close, Wigan, will appear at Bolton Magistrates’ Court on December 3. A third man, Andrew Edge, aged 44, is already in custody and will appear via videolink at Wigan Magistrates’ Court on November 26.
Stop The Astley Bridge Mosque was set up in opposition to plans to build a new mosque building in Blackburn Road, Astley Bridge. Two large-scale protests have taken place at the site of the mosque since, while demonstrators also attended the Bolton Council planning meeting at which the mosque scheme was approved.