Police patrols are being stepped up around mosques in Gloucester after an arson “hate attack” on Masjid-E-Noor.
Police have arrested a 37-year-old Gloucester man after the doors of the mosque, in Ryecroft Street, were set on fire in the early hours of yesterday.
A second man was arrested last night on suspicion of arson, following the mosque attack. Police said the 20-year-old man, believed to be from Cheltenham, was arrested overnight.
A former police authority chairman has accused the English Defence League (EDL) of “fascist street thuggery” after a march in Hull that led to 10 arrests.
Trouble flared when about 75 people took part a march along Spring Bank on June 8, although those arrested were protesting against the event. Police said the men were held for public order-related offences when a “small disturbance” happened just after 1.15pm. Eight were released without charge, while a man aged 19 received a police caution for possession of a class B drug, and a 23-year-old was charged with possession of an offensive weapon in public.
Hull councillor Colin Inglis has now called on police to ban any further marches. In a motion going before a meeting of the authority tomorrow, Coun Inglis, a former chairman of Humberside Police Authority, wrote:
“Council notes the so-called ‘English Defence League’ march along Spring Bank. It further notes the deliberately provocative nature of this event with participants engaging in crude and racist behaviour clearly intended to elicit a response from local residents in a typical display of fascist street thuggery. Council believes that the residents of Myton ward, the City in general but of Spring Bank in particular, deserve to be protected against such blatant attempts to incite communal hatred and calls upon the Police to ban any further such planned marches.”
A 37-year-old man has been arrested in connection with an arson attack on a Gloucester mosque.
Gloucestershire Police said lit petrol was poured around the door of the Masjid-E-Noor mosque on Ryecroft Street about 01:00 BST. A spokesman said a man left the scene at speed at about 01:00 BST in a dark-coloured car being driven by an accomplice. The suspect is currently in police custody and being questioned.
The door of the mosque was left burnt and blackened in the attack, which was captured on CCTV. The attack comes after an open day was held at the mosque to welcome in the community.
Labour has been accused of making “inflammatory” claims after supporters of far right group the English Defence League circulated allegations that mayor of Tower Hamlets Lutfur Rahman prioritised supporters when allocating funding for home improvements.
The accusation that Independent mayor Mr Rahman targeted areas represented by his supporters followed the release of figures highlighting discrepancies in where renovations under the Decent Homes Programme have been completed since elections in 2010. The information was circulated by EDL supporters on social networking site Twitter.
A spokesman from the mayor’s office described Labour’s accusations as “inflammatory”, while cabinet member for housing Cllr Rabina Khan added: “The irresponsible and dangerous claims made by Labour have found their audience and are now doing the rounds with the EDL to stoke up fear within the community that some residents and areas are more deserving than others.”
Newham Council’s rejection of a planning application for the UK’s biggest mosque is set to be the subject of a public inquiry this year.
Councillors voted unanimously to reject plans for a 9,000 capacity building for Muslim worshippers in December on the site – former industrial land at the end of Canning Road which is listed for strategic development. Officers argued that the mosque plans failed to provide a mixed-use development.
The Riverine Trust, who submitted the planning application, appealed and the decision is due to be examined in a public inquiry of the Planning Inspectorate over a number of weeks towards the end of 2013.
Last month, the High Court ordered the Trust to clear the site, also known as the Abbey Mills Mosque, where 3,000 Muslims currently worship. But instead the Trustees have now applied to a judge to appeal the injunction meaning no timetable to clear the site has been put in place.
They have also submitted proposals to the council for a new planning application for a mixed-use development.
Hundreds of people have signed an online petition supporting Shrewsbury’s first Muslim prayer centre.
The petition was launched by anti-racism group Hope Not Hate on Friday and by yesterday afternoon had attracted 365 signatures.
Two men are due to appear in court accused of spraying racist graffiti onto a wall of the Maidenhead Mosque. Lee Hunt, 26, of Lincoln Road, and Gary Nuth, 22, of Kingfisher Drive, both in Maidenhead, were charged on Friday
They have both been charged with two counts of racially or religiously aggravated criminal damage, one count of criminal damage and one count of theft. The charges relate to an incident at the mosque in Holmanleaze in the early hours of June 8, when graffiti was sprayed onto the side wall of the building.
They were both bailed to appear at Slough Magistrates’ Court on July 12.
A group called the North West Frontline Firm are holding a demonstration in Burnley next Saturday to “highlight the Islamification of Great Britain and the ever growing problem of mass immigration”.
One of several far-right “unity” initiatives that emerged out of the fragmentation of the English Defence League, the organisation claims to have been “set up by affiliates of various Patriotic groups throughout the North West”. In a recent Facebook post they state piously: “We aren’t extremist nazis like the various left wing factions would have you believe. We are simply concerned British Patriots.”
Two racist thugs who beat up an innocent man and told him “go back to your own country” have narrowly avoided jail.
Salvatore Allegro, 48, of Home Gardens, Dartford, and James Whitbread, 36, from Rochester, carried out the unprovoked attack at Bank Underground station on August 18 last year. The pair were both found guilty of a racially aggravated public order offence following a short trial, with Allegro also being found guilty of common assault.
This morning, District Judge Vanessa Lloyd handed the pair suspended prison sentences at Westminster Magistrates Court.
The victim, Ahmad Farhan, boarded an Underground train at Bond Street station with his girlfriend when he first heard a group of white males talking about “f***ing Islams.” As he left the train at Bank station at around 5pm, the group of men also left the train and were heard singing racist hate songs. Mr Farhan said he was “wary” of the group as he left the train and heard one of the men, later identified as Allegro, say “go back to your own country you f***ing Muslim c**t.”
A third man has been arrested in connection with the petrol-bomb attack on Grimsby’s Mosque.
Daniel Cressey, 24, of Manchester Square, New Holland, was arrested on Friday and has since been charged with arson with intent to endanger life. He is due to appear before Grimsby Magistrates Court later today.