Aiden Fletcher received a suspended sentence after pleading guilty to assaulting a Muslim doctor.

Fletcher, 23, headbutted Dr Syeda Jafari, who works in the accident and emergency department at the Queen’s Medical Centre. During the unprovoked racist assault, he told her “Go back to your own country”.

Dr Jafari was out with friends that evening, trying to locate the home of a friend who had recently lost her mother on October 29.

Andrew Conboy, prosecuting, said that Dr Jafari heard a man say ‘move out of the way’ as Mr Fletcher stood in front of her. Dr Jafari and her friends tried to leave the scene but the defendant grew more aggressive. Believing that she had insulted him, he assaulted her without provocation.

In mitigation, Serena Mandair said that Mr Fletcher had no racist views. And had been drinking that day after attending the funeral of a relative.

On February 19 the Nottingham Post reported that Aiden Fletcher faced the possibility of prison. That possibility turned into a six-month prison term, suspended for two years. The unemployed Mr Fletcher must complete 140 hours of unpaid work, as well as paying  compensation and £280 costs.

The assault left Dr Jafari with a concussion. Her father passed away worried about the safety of his daughter, as this was the first time she had faced such hatred and violence. She is now abroad mourning the deaths of two family members.

Through her own remarkable courage and support from our staff, she will donate the £500 costs to Tell MAMA. She told the Nottingham Post “It will go to a charity which heard about the case and which has been extremely supportive for the last six months. I am feeling a bit low because of the sentence”.

Dr Jafari’s kind gesture humbles our staff. We are very grateful for this donation. We will continue to support Dr Jafari beyond this trial outcome.  And we our glad that our continued support helped her through a very difficult six months.

The suspended sentence for Mr Fletcher is eyebrow-raising but may owe to the judge’s decision not to punish his children. He was convicted for affray in 2011 and will now face 40 sessions with a probation officer.

The post Aiden Fletcher avoids prison for headbutting Muslim doctor appeared first on TELL MAMA.

Aiden Fletcher received a suspended sentence after pleading guilty to assaulting a Muslim doctor.

Fletcher, 23, headbutted Dr Syeda Jafari, who works in the accident and emergency department at the Queen’s Medical Centre. During the unprovoked racist assault, he told her “Go back to your own country”.

Dr Jafari was out with friends that evening, trying to locate the home of a friend who had recently lost her mother on October 29.

Andrew Conboy, prosecuting, said that Dr Jafari heard a man say ‘move out of the way’ as Mr Fletcher stood in front of her. Dr Jafari and her friends tried to leave the scene but the defendant grew more aggressive. Believing that she had insulted him, he assaulted her without provocation.

In mitigation, Serena Mandair said that Mr Fletcher had no racist views. And had been drinking that day after attending the funeral of a relative.

On February 19 the Nottingham Post reported that Aiden Fletcher faced the possibility of prison. That possibility turned into a six-month prison term, suspended for two years. The unemployed Mr Fletcher must complete 140 hours of unpaid work, as well as paying  compensation and £280 costs.

The assault left Dr Jafari with a concussion. Her father passed away worried about the safety of his daughter, as this was the first time she had faced such hatred and violence. She is now abroad mourning the deaths of two family members.

Through her own remarkable courage and support from our staff, she will donate the £500 costs to Tell MAMA. She told the Nottingham Post “It will go to a charity which heard about the case and which has been extremely supportive for the last six months. I am feeling a bit low because of the sentence”.

Dr Jafari’s kind gesture humbles our staff. We are very grateful for this donation. We will continue to support Dr Jafari beyond this trial outcome.  And we our glad that our continued support helped her through a very difficult six months.

The suspended sentence for Mr Fletcher is eyebrow-raising but may owe to the judge’s decision not to punish his children. He was convicted for affray in 2011 and will now face 40 sessions with a probation officer.

The post Aiden Fletcher avoids prison for headbutting Muslim doctor appeared first on TELL MAMA.

In late October 2015, Dr Syeda Jaffri contacted Tell MAMA and made us aware of an assault on her which left us exasperated as to the level of confidence that the perpetrator had, in order to attack a visible Muslim female.

On the 29th of October, in the late evening, Dr Jaffri was with about 25 other Muslim women who were going to support the family member of someone who had died and they were going to convey their condolences., when they were accosted by Aiden Fletcher, who was about to commit an assault.

Dr Jaffri and other women had arrived earlier by car and were looking for the address of the family who had suffered the bereavement and were targeted by Mr Fletcher who aggressively approached them and started to point his finger and make aggressive gestures. At one point, the victim was told to ‘move out of the way‘ even though the perpetrator had blocked her way. What ensued was an assault as the perpetrator head butted Dr Jaffri leading to her having to seek medical attention.

However, the Nottingham Post failed to mention the following fact that Jaffri has mentioned to Tell MAMA. That after the attack, the perpetrator went up and rounded up between 20-25 males who came back to the scene to further intimidate the Muslim women who were simply trying to provide their condolences to the bereaved family.

The white males continued to verbally assault the group of women who then called the police given the nature of the intimidation and the assault on Dr Jaffri.

Tell MAMA were alerted to the case in early October 2015 and worked on ensuring that detailed were recorded and passed to law enforcement. We would like to commend the courage of Dr Jaffri for contacting us, standing up for her rights and for sending a clear message – anti-Muslim hatred is unacceptable and needs to be tackled through the courts where possible.

The post Success: Nottingham ‘Headbutt’ Case Was Referred to Tell MAMA for Action appeared first on TELL MAMA.