Arson is the suspected cause of a serious fire at one of Europe’s largest halal-certified poultry processing facilities.

A spokesman or Lancashire Fire & Rescue Service told FoodManufacture.co.uk that crews attended Gafoor Halal Products on Fletcher Road, Preston in the early hours of Monday morning when the premises were locked up with no staff onsite.

“A couple of fire engines attended the site at 12.15am on Monday morning, and our crews were there about an hour,” he said. “About 100 wooden pallets (from a stack of 800) were damaged, and we suspect arson; that’s the route we’re going down via a joint investigation with Police.”

When the initial emergency call was made, the spokesman said that trees were engulfed behing Gafoor’s multi-million pound facility.

FoodManufacture.co.uk, 16 December 2010

A third attack on Muslim graves in a Leeds cemetery in nine months is being treated as “mindless racial vandalism” by police. Detectives probing the damage to 24 graves at Harehills Cemetery on Sunday night are now combing CCTV footage.

Numerous name plaques were ripped from grave marker posts and a headstone was pushed over. Other grave marker posts were pulled up and strewn about causing great distress to relatives and friends of the buried.

After the second attack on Muslim graves in September police installed covert CCTV cameras to deter further damage and that footage is being examined by North East Leeds CID and further forensic work carried out.

Yorkshire Post, 14 December 2010

The first attack on the cemetery took place in March this year.

A drunken yob who threatened to burn down a mosque has escaped jail “by a whisker”.

John Walsh, 25, shouted abuse at a member of the mosque on Liverpool Road in Eccles before kicking at the door. Walsh – a plant vehicle operator from Boardman Street, Eccles – then turned on a nearby shop manager. He was given a community penalty and warned he would face prison if he committed a similar offence in the next two years.

Walsh admitted two counts of racially aggravated public disorder when he appeared at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court.

The court heard how a member of the mosque had been locking up after prayers when he heard Walsh shouting from across the street. Patrick Buckley, prosecuting, said Walsh had shouted words to the effect that he was going to “burn down” the mosque.

Walsh then kicked and pushed at the locked door before going into a nearby shop and racially abusing the manager. He returned to the shop later and began shouting football songs, but a police officer was inside and he was arrested.

Judge Bernard Lever, sentencing, gave Walsh a two-year community order with six months’ supervision. He ordered him to carry out 150 hours of unpaid work and placed him under a curfew.

Manchester Evening News, 14 December 2010

A father-of-two who set up a racist Facebook group was told he was fortunate to have escaped a jail term.

Kalum Dyson, of Frances Street in Brighouse, created a group called “Pakis Die” on the social networking website. The 21-year-old also posted messages including one which said: “Help me shoot all the Pakis.” One of his listed friends, who is believed to have had an Asian boyfriend, complained to police after he sent her an invitation to join the group.

He pleaded guilty to a charge of sending an offensive or indecent, obscene or menacing electronic communication at Calderdale Magistrates’ Court yesterday. Dyson, who has children aged two years and just five-weeks-old and works as a floor layer, was given a community order. But chairman of the bench Tim Cole told him the offence was so serious it could have merited a jail term.

Dyson admitted setting up the site, which Facebook immediately removed, and told officers Muslims “should understand what the British Army was fighting for”. But he also said he was not racist, claiming he had “black” friends.

Dyson, who lives with his parents, was given a 12-month community order, to include 150 hours of unpaid community work, and a 30-day curfew. He must stay at home between the hours of 9pm and 5am. He was also ordered to pay £85 court costs.

Huddersfield Examiner, 10 December 2010

See also the Halifax Courier which reports Dyson’s lawyer as stating that her client “started the group to get people’s views on what they thought about the Army and ongoing protests against them by Muslims”.

Five arrests were made after a disturbance at a Scunthorpe mosque following a funeral.

Mourners were leaving the Pakistan Social Cultural And Islamic Centre in Parkinson Avenue at about 8.30pm on Tuesday, when a group approached them and are alleged to have shouted abuse and made threats. After being asked to leave the scene, they are then said to have forced their way into the building, where about 25 mourners, some of who had travelled long distances to attend the funeral, remained.

Abid Khan, member of the South Humber Racial Equality Council (SHREC) board, was at the funeral, but left before the disturbance. He said: “A lot of people there were from out of the area and started to panic. One minute you are mourning the loss of a loved one and the next, something like this happens.”

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