Release from the Crown Prosecution Service

Roy Wakefield, 63, was sentenced today at Bexley Magistrates’ Court for two counts of using threatening, abusive or insulting words to cause harassment, alarm or distress. The offences occurred on 19^th December 2015 in the Erith area. The victim in the case is a 17-year-old girl who is partially sighted and is assisted by a white cane and assist dog.

This was prosecuted as a disability hate crime and therefore Wakefield’s sentenced was uplifted from 12 weeks’ imprisonment suspended for 12 months to 20 weeks’ imprisonment suspended for 12 months. He was also ordered to pay £150 compensation to the victim and complete 150 hours of unpaid work. A restraining order was imposed.

CPS London reviewing lawyer Toyin Odumade said:

“Roy Wakefield purposefully targeted a young and vulnerable girl who was merely waiting at a bus stop on the way to meet friends.”

“Wakefield began aggressively shouting abuse at the victim who recognised his voice. She felt frightened and alone and was very upset by the incident.”

“Wakefield’s shameful behaviour clearly showed his hostility towards the victim’s disability and we were able to ask the court to increase his sentence accordingly.”

“We were able to assist the victim in giving evidence in court by applying for special measures which allowed her to give evidence via video link from a different room and also to have her assist dog with her while giving evidence.”

“The CPS is committed to tackling disability hate crime and to supporting victims through the prosecution process.”

The post Crown Prosecution Success – Man Sentenced for Shouting Abusing at Vulnerable Girl appeared first on TELL MAMA.

Release from the Crown Prosecution Service

Roy Wakefield, 63, was sentenced today at Bexley Magistrates’ Court for two counts of using threatening, abusive or
insulting words to cause harassment, alarm or distress. The offences occurred on 19^th December 2015 in the Erith area. The victim in the case is a 17-year-old girl who is partially sighted and is assisted by a white cane and assist dog.

This was prosecuted as a disability hate crime and therefore Wakefield’s sentenced was uplifted from 12 weeks’ imprisonment suspended for 12 months to 20 weeks’ imprisonment suspended for 12 months. He was also ordered to pay £150 compensation to the victim and complete 150 hours of unpaid work. A restraining order was imposed.

CPS London reviewing lawyer Toyin Odumade said:

“Roy Wakefield purposefully targeted a young and vulnerable girl who was merely waiting at a bus stop on the way to meet friends.”

“Wakefield began aggressively shouting abuse at the victim who recognised his voice. She felt frightened and alone and was very upset by the incident.”

“Wakefield’s shameful behaviour clearly showed his hostility towards the victim’s disability and we were able to ask the court to increase his sentence accordingly.”

“We were able to assist the victim in giving evidence in court by applying for special measures which allowed her to give evidence via video link from a different room and also to have her assist dog with her while giving evidence.”

“The CPS is committed to tackling disability hate crime and to supporting victims through the prosecution process.”

The post Crown Prosecution Success – Man Sentenced for Shouting Abusing at Vulnerable Girl appeared first on TELL MAMA.

Release from the Crown Prosecution Service

Roy Wakefield, 63, was sentenced today at Bexley Magistrates’ Court for two counts of using threatening, abusive or
insulting words to cause harassment, alarm or distress. The offences occurred on 19^th December 2015 in the Erith area. The victim in the case is a 17-year-old girl who is partially sighted and is assisted by a white cane and assist dog.

This was prosecuted as a disability hate crime and therefore Wakefield’s sentenced was uplifted from 12 weeks’ imprisonment suspended for 12 months to 20 weeks’ imprisonment suspended for 12 months. He was also ordered to pay £150 compensation to the victim and complete 150 hours of unpaid work. A restraining order was imposed.

CPS London reviewing lawyer Toyin Odumade said:

“Roy Wakefield purposefully targeted a young and vulnerable girl who was merely waiting at a bus stop on the way to meet friends.”

“Wakefield began aggressively shouting abuse at the victim who recognised his voice. She felt frightened and alone and was very upset by the incident.”

“Wakefield’s shameful behaviour clearly showed his hostility towards the victim’s disability and we were able to ask the court to increase his sentence accordingly.”

“We were able to assist the victim in giving evidence in court by applying for special measures which allowed her to give evidence via video link from a different room and also to have her assist dog with her while giving evidence.”

“The CPS is committed to tackling disability hate crime and to supporting victims through the prosecution process.”

The post Crown Prosecution Success – Man Sentenced for Shouting Abusing at Vulnerable Girl appeared first on TELL MAMA.

Release from the Crown Prosecution Service

Roy Wakefield, 63, was sentenced today at Bexley Magistrates’ Court for two counts of using threatening, abusive or
insulting words to cause harassment, alarm or distress. The offences occurred on 19^th December 2015 in the Erith area. The victim in the case is a 17-year-old girl who is partially sighted and is assisted by a white cane and assist dog.

This was prosecuted as a disability hate crime and therefore Wakefield’s sentenced was uplifted from 12 weeks’ imprisonment suspended for 12 months to 20 weeks’ imprisonment suspended for 12 months. He was also ordered to pay £150 compensation to the victim and complete 150 hours of unpaid work. A restraining order was imposed.

CPS London reviewing lawyer Toyin Odumade said:

“Roy Wakefield purposefully targeted a young and vulnerable girl who was merely waiting at a bus stop on the way to meet friends.”

“Wakefield began aggressively shouting abuse at the victim who recognised his voice. She felt frightened and alone and was very upset by the incident.”

“Wakefield’s shameful behaviour clearly showed his hostility towards the victim’s disability and we were able to ask the court to increase his sentence accordingly.”

“We were able to assist the victim in giving evidence in court by applying for special measures which allowed her to give evidence via video link from a different room and also to have her assist dog with her while giving evidence.”

“The CPS is committed to tackling disability hate crime and to supporting victims through the prosecution process.”

The post Crown Prosecution Success – Man Sentenced for Shouting Abusing at Vulnerable Girl appeared first on TELL MAMA.

As we move into 2016, it is important to reflect on what has been achieved for the public over the last year.

Tell MAMA is now moving into its fourth year of existence and the results over the last year have been humbling. But this has been about how we have made a difference. When we stop making a difference, then it is time for any project or organisation to re-assess its future.

So these are the successes over the last year which have helped in tackling anti-Muslim prejudice and in ensuring stronger and more cohesive communities, whilst also helping to push back far right groups and their narratives.

— We were the first organisation to call out the large spike in anti-Muslim hate incidents that were reported to us by members of the public after the horrendous terrorist killings in Paris in November 2015. We acted, again, as an early warning indicator against a rise in anti-Muslim prejudice and community tensions.

— We worked with Ministers and senior officials in informing them around risks relating to anti-Muslim prejudice and in the need to ensure better recording of anti-Muslim hate incidents.

— Our material was sourced by over 768 local, national and international press sources over the last year. This made Tell MAMA, the leading organisation in creating a wider awareness of anti-Muslim prejudice and we will continue to push hard in the coming year.

— We reached out to over 2.8 million people in the UK on-line and our reach has meant that we received cases from the US, South America and other countries. Whilst we would like to have helped, our main and key priority is the UK, hence we did not record or count these cases. (Only UK based cases are included in our annual reports).

— We were one of two organisations, (the other being the Community Security Trust), who signed a partnership and data sharing agreement with police forces in England and Wales. This means that we have started to receive data from forces to add to the self-referrals for assistance that we receive in Tell MAMA. This year, our projections are that we will have over 2,000 anti-Muslim hate incidents logged.

— We have now assisted over 5,600 people with casework, advice, emotional and signposting support since we started work in March 2012.

— We have been successful in achieving over 524 arrests and 412 prosecutions since March 2012. These are figures from police forces who have fed results back to us and the figure may well be higher.

— We have disrupted far right activity on-line and ensured that over 1,370 acounts have been closed on Facebook and Twitter. Again, these are from figures that we have received when social media providers have fed this information back to us.

— We have developed an extensive network of police contacts who work on tackling hate crimes in forces in England and Wales.

— We were instrumental in advising the CPS (Crown Prosecution Service), in looking for keywords that may associate evidence and cases with anti-Muslim prejudice. Those key words are now included in the Prosecutor’s Guidance on anti-Muslim hostility.

— We have developed a wide information network which feeds in anti-Muslim material which is circulated by far right networks to us. This allows us to be pro-active and to feed in the material to law enforcement, ensuring the safety of communities.

These are just some of the achievements to date. In all of this, we must not forget the victims of anti-Muslim prejudice, who are predominantly Muslim women who are visible, (who wear the Hijab or the Niqab). To many, we have been a key point of support and as we go into 2016, let us think about our impacts on society. Let us collectively stand up for the weak, those who have no voice and those who deserve peace. If we can stand up for the most marginalised and the voiceless in our communities, then we really are making a real difference.

The post Our Achievements in Tell MAMA as We Move into 2016 appeared first on TELL MAMA.

For the last 3 years, TELL MAMA has built up evidence on the language of anti-Muslim hatred. Key terms and words that are used and targeted towards Muslims have been collated through our work and we have worked with partner agencies to explain the meanings of the terms, their links to Muslim communities and the impacts on victims.

One of the agencies that we have engaged with and worked with, has been the Crown Prosecution Service, (CPS). The CPS has regularly met with groups working as national hate crime reporting centres and has been receptive to advice from agencies on the changing nature of language targeted at communities because of their religion or faith.

TELL MAMA has had sight of the draft ‘checklist for advice and charging lawyers‘ and we wholeheartedly support the excellent work of the CPS. Language and terms that have been used to target Muslims are included in the section on anti-Muslim or Islamophobic hate crimes and we believe that this a major step forward.

Whilst we cannot and will not highlight key-words that are included in the advice sheet for charging lawyers, we believe that the document captures key words and will ensure that prosecutors are best advised on charging perpetrators who have targeted people because of their faith and when using specific terms.

The post TELL MAMA Welcomes Advice Checklist by CPS For Charging Lawyers appeared first on TELL MAMA.

We have highlighted the following case to show the actions of far right groups like Britain First who intimidate people and who, thankfully, have been successfully prosecuted by the Crown Prosecution Service. This text highlights the criminal conviction of the Group’s leader, Paul Golding.

On the evening of 3 April 2014 Paul Golding, the leader of an organisation called Britain First, visited Chafont Hundred, a small town in Essex, along with a group of male supporters. The group’s primary intention was to confront a man called Sajeel Shahid who, according to an article in the Daily Mail, had been a member of a proscribed terrorist organisation and had been involved in training terrorists in Pakistan. In fact, the house that the group intended to visit actually belonged to Mr Shahid’s brother, and at the time of their visit only his wife, Munnazza Munawar, and their three children were at home.

On arrival in the area the group began posting leaflets entitled ‘no hate preachers in Hepburn close’ through a number of doors in the vicinity before approaching Mrs Munawar’s front door. PauL Golding knocked and, although Mrs Munawar did not open the door due to her understandable concern, he asked her to pass a message on to Sajeel Shahid that he should get out of the neighbourhood. He ended by stating that he would return and posted one of the offending leaflets under her door before departing. Mrs Munawar was left in a state of fear for herself and her children.

One member of Paul Golding’s group filmed the whole visit including a number of speeches that he made to camera. The video recording of this incident was subsequently posted on the website of Britain First. In this footage Paul Golding could be seen to be wearing a green bomber type jacket which had a visible emblem on the right hand breast. The others in his group all wore similar jackets which were available to buy on the Britain First website.

Paul Golding was prosecuted for an offence of harassing a person at their home, contrary to section 42A Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001 and an offence of wearing a uniform in connection with political objects, contrary to s1(1) Public Order Act 1936. The latter offence required the consent of the Attorney General. After a trial at Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court he was convicted of both offences. He received a fine of £425 and was made the subject of a restraining order to prevent him from harassing Mrs Munawar.

The post Regina (State) vs Paul Golding (2014) – Counter Terrorism Division of the CPS appeared first on TELL MAMA.