A man who scrawled “kill jews” on a cell wall with crayons after he was arrested for stuffing Korans down a hospital toilet has been found guilty of hate crimes, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has said.

Ibhraim Iqbal, 36, from Leeds, was found guilty of two counts of religiously aggravated criminal damage and another count of criminal damage at Leeds District Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday, the CPS confirmed.

The CPS said the conviction comes as prosecutors deal with a record number of hate crime referrals.

A spokesman said Iqbal smashed a framed Islamic scripture before defacing multiple Korans in a multi-faith room at St James’s Hospital in Leeds, in November last year.

He tore out pages, setting them alight and using them to block the sink and toilet.

Iqbal then returned to the hospital two weeks later and deliberately stuffed items down the drains to cause a blockage, the spokesman said.

He was detained by hospital security staff when he returned the following day and attempted to access the multi-faith room again but found it locked due to the earlier damage.

After he was arrested, he asked for crayons and used them to write the “kill Jews” on his cell wall, the spokesman said.

Iqbal will be sentenced at the same court on February 16.

Senior Crown Prosecutor for CPS Yorkshire and Humberside Luke Hopkinson said: “Ibhraim Iqbal carried out a deliberate and sustained campaign of hatred, targeting both Muslim and Jewish communities with his actions.

“This comes at a time where our prosecutors are working on the highest ever number of hate crime cases referred to us by police.

“I hope today’s conviction demonstrates the CPS’s commitment to tackling religiously aggravated hate crime, and reiterate how we will always seek to prosecute those who target others because of their faith where their conduct strays into criminality.”

The CPS said data for July to September 2025 showed it received 4,358 cases from police which have been flagged as having a hate crime element, which is a 14.7% increase on the previous quarter, and 2.8% up on the same period in 2024.

A police officer in Manchester is suspected of emblazoning a colleague’s belongings with a swastika.

Greater Manchester Police said it has sparked an “internal investigation” after the “disgraceful and disgusting act”, which has been declared a hate crime.

Detectives and professional standards are treating the incident “incredibly seriously” after the unnamed officer began his or her shift on Sunday to find the Nazi symbol etched onto their items.

Assistant Chief Constable Mabs Hussain said: “I can wholeheartedly say that we are appalled that one of our employees felt that this behaviour was acceptable.

“A colleague has been subjected to a hate crime and there is no place for behaviour like this in GMP or policing nationally, and it’s being treated incredibly seriously.

“We serve one of the most culturally diverse areas in the United Kingdom and we’re incredibly proud to have a diverse workforce to serve and represent our communities.

“It is absolutely unacceptable that an officer has been faced with such an atrocity during their shift and we’re urging any officers or staff with any information to report it.”

Humberside Police unlawfully interfered with a man’s right to freedom of expression by turning up at his place of work over his allegedly “transphobic” tweets, the High Court has ruled.

Former police officer Harry Miller, 54, who founded the campaign group Fair Cop, said the police’s actions had a “substantial chilling effect” on his right to free speech.

Mr Miller, who is from Lincolnshire, claims an officer told him that he had not committed a crime, but that his tweeting was being recorded as a “hate incident”.

The College of Policing’s guidance defines a hate incident as “any non-crime incident which is perceived, by the victim or any other person, to be motivated by a hostility or prejudice against a person who is transgender or perceived to be transgender”.

In a ruling on Friday, the High Court in London found Humberside Police’s actions were a “disproportionate interference” with Mr Miller’s right to freedom of expression.

But Mr Justice Julian Knowles rejected a wider challenge to the lawfulness of the College of Police guidance, ruling that it “serves legitimate purposes and is not disproportionate”.

The judge said: “The claimants’ tweets were lawful and there was not the slightest risk that he would commit a criminal offence by continuing to tweet.

“I find the combination of the police visiting the claimant’s place of work, and their subsequent statements in relation to the possibility of prosecution, were a disproportionate interference with the claimant’s right to freedom of expression because of their potential chilling effect.”

At a hearing in November, Mr Miller’s barrister Ian Wise QC said his client was “deeply concerned” about proposed reforms to the law on gender recognition and had used Twitter to “engage in debate about transgender issues”.

He argued that Humberside Police, following the College of Policing’s guidance, had sought to “dissuade him (Mr Miller) from expressing himself on such issues in the future”, which he said was “contrary to his fundamental right to freedom of expression”.

The judge said Mr Miller strongly denies being prejudiced against transgender people, and regards himself as taking part in the “ongoing debate” about reform of the Gender Recognition Act 2004, which the Government consulted on in 2018.

A woman has died and three other people are in hospital after a shooting at a synagogue outside San Diego, California.

County sheriff William Gore said a white man opened fire on worshippers at Chabad of Poway with an AR-type assault weapon.

San Diego Police chief David Nisleit said the 19-year-old suspect called police to report the shooting, and was subsequently arrested by a California Highway Patrol officer.

Mr Nisleit said the suspect got out of his car with his hands up and was taken into custody without incident.

Mr Gore confirmed a woman died from her injuries, while a girl and two men are in hospital in a stable condition.

He said an off-duty Border Patrol agent believed to be inside the synagogue at the time shot at the suspect as he fled. The sheriff said the agent did not hit him, but struck his car.

US president Donald Trump offered his “deepest sympathies to the families of those affected”.

At the White House, Mr Trump said that the shooting “looked like a hate crime” and called it “hard to believe”.

He spoke from the South Lawn before flying to a rally in Wisconsin.

Mr Gore said he had no details on motive.

Beyond the Incident: Highest Number of Annual Reports Logged by Tell MAMA Since Launch in 2012

Director of Tell MAMA, Iman Atta OBE says, “We are in deeply worrying times where people are looking for certainty and what they are getting is instability at a political and societal level. This means that at times like this, minority groups are the ones who suffer the anger of those looking to vent their fears, insecurities and concerns.

“We are seeing more aggressive street-based incidents, younger perpetrators, between the ages of 13-18, increased vandalism and international interference by well organised social media accounts playing groups off in the UK. More than ever, we need to come together and redouble our efforts against those who seek to divide and play communities off against each other”.

Key Points

• In 2017 Tell MAMA recorded a total of 1,330 reports. Of these reports, 1,201 were verified as being anti-Muslim or Islamophobic in nature and as having occurred in the UK between January and December 2017. More than two-thirds of verified incidents occurred offline, or on a street-level (70%, n=839), which represents a 30% rise in offline reports when compared to the previous reporting period (n=643). An offline, or street-level, incident means that the incident occurred in-person between a victim (or property) and a perpetrator. There were therefore more street incidents of anti-Muslim hatred reported into Tell MAMA.
• Crimes or incidents that are classified as ‘online’ occurred on social media platforms such as Facebook or Twitter, or on other Internet-based platforms, were verified as having happened within the UK, and account for a third of reports in 2017 (n=362), which represents a 16.3% rise in reports when compared with the previous year (n=311). This small rise can be partially attributed to the way in which ideologically-motivated accounts felt emboldened by major trigger events, (such as terrorist attacks) and broader Islamophobic discourses in the public sphere.
• The ‘online hate’ figure, however, should be viewed as part of a wider trend in our data sets where there has been a marked shift towards more serious offline incidents such as physical attacks, threatening behaviour and abuse more generally, along with a growing awareness of Tell MAMA in Muslim communities, among key stakeholders, and partners, resulting in a greater willingness amongst victims and witnesses to report.
• Tell MAMA has listed in its Annual Report examples of ‘Twitter bots’ that have sought to cause disruption and division in community perceptions and which have actively promoted anti-Muslim hatred. One such Twitter account was @DavidJo52951945 . Responses to the rhetoric on this account, called for violent action against Islamic institutions and on August 30^th 2017, the Times reported that this bot originated from Russia. Furthermore, a Twitter account called @SouthLoneStar, which had amassed some 16,500 followers, was responsible in starting a global trend after the Westminster terrorist attack.

DOWNLOAD THE FULL REPORT HERE.

For further information about Tell MAMA please click here.

A Sri Lankan court on Wednesday handed a six-year jail term to a Buddhist monk accused of inciting violence against Muslims, holding him guilty of contempt just months after he was convicted of intimidating the wife of a missing journalist.

The monk, Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara, leads the hardline Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) or “Buddhist Power Force”, which government ministers and Muslims have accused of stirring up violence against Muslims and Christians, allegations he has denied.

The court sentenced him to six years’ rigorous imprisonment over a 2016 incident when Gnanasara interrupted a court hearing on the abduction of the journalist, Prageeth Eknaligoda, in which military intelligence officials were accused.

He shouted at the judge and lawyers because the military officials had not been given bail, and threatened Eknaligoda’s wife.

“The convict intentionally committed the offence to undermine the judiciary,” Preethi Padman Surasena, the president of the court of appeal, said in delivering Wednesday’s judgment, adding, “Found guilty of all charges beyond reasonable doubt.”

The monk was convicted on four counts of contempt of court, receiving terms of four years each on the first and the second counts, six years on the third and five for the fourth, all to run concurrently.

A BBS official told Reuters the group would appeal against Wednesday’s ruling.

“We feel there is an attempt by interested parties to have judicial process targeting Gnanasara, therefore, though we do not agree with the judgment, we accept the sentence, and we will appeal,” said Dilantha Vithanage, the group’s chief executive.

Gnanasara, who is being treated in hospital for an ailment, was not in court for the ruling. He has been on bail since filing an appeal against a conviction in a separate case on June 14.

In that case, he received two concurrent jail terms of six months, a fine of 1,500 rupees ($9.39), and a compensation payment of 50,000 rupees ($313) for having threatened the journalist’s wife, Sandhya Eknaligoda.

Since 2014, the monk has faced accusations in cases regarding anti-Muslim violence, hate speech, and defaming the Koran, the Muslim holy book.

That year Gnanasara signed a pact with Myanmar’s Ashin Wirathu, who once described himself as “the Burmese bin Laden”, in what the duo called a bid to counter regional conversion efforts by Islamists.

($1=159.7000 Sri Lankan rupees)

Russian police detained around 25 gay rights activists who took part in an unsanctioned rally in St Petersburg on Saturday, according to Reuters witnesses.

A few dozen activists gathered at Palace Square on Saturday afternoon, defying a ban to hold the rally.

Organisers had said they would stage one-man protests to demand freedom of association after city authorities turned down their request to hold a parade.

Police detained campaigners who unfurled rainbow flags or held placards, dragging them into a police bus. There were no clashes between police and the activists.

Russia passed a law in 2013 banning the spreading of gay “propaganda”.

Last month, Russian police briefly detained British LGBT campaigner Peter Tatchell after he protested near the Kremlin in support of gay rights.

The murder of Asad Shah has left a huge imprint on many communities, both Muslim ad non-Muslim. The 40-year-old was deeply respected and had posted a social media post thanking the Christian nation that had given him so much. He also highlighted the role of Christ in Islam and had truly straddled and held dearly, being British and being Muslim. It seems that in many ways, he was at peace in his adopted country.

His brutal murder and the violent manner in which he was treated, means that his death is something that we should actively mark. We should mark any murder, with a desire to redouble our efforts to value the sanctity of life and when someone is violated in such a manner, we should stand together and make clear that we as a society cannot and will not accept such actions. Many have done that by standing in silence, together – people of faith and no-faith. It is testament to his personality and to his humanity.

Whatever, the motivation, we know that Police Scotland regard this murder as religiously motivated. Asad Shah was an Ahmaddiya and the murderer, another Muslim of Sunni heritage. We cannot extrapolate and we must not influence process where justice needs to take its course. Yet, the current information provided is worrying and may indicate sectarian hatred.

We will however highlight the fact that we come across anti-Shia and anti-Ahmaddiya rhetoric through the work we do in Tell MAMA. We have highlighted this before on many occasions and these can be found here, here and here and our Director has also highlighted this issue. 

The fact is that such hate against fellow citizens cannot and should not be tolerated. It is unacceptable and should not longer be regarded as an ‘intra-Muslim’ issue. They are hate incidents and are recorded as such by us and dealt with in an identical manner by the police. We must remain vigilant against such forms of intolerance and whilst people may have differences in opinion, openly stating threats against Ahmaddiya Muslims or Shia Muslims is unacceptable.  We should not tolerate such hatred and sectarianism any more.

Examples of Sectarian Material Circulated

These are some of the examples of material that we have picked up:

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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.”

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Pictures showing the injuries to an Asian man have emerged after he was attacked a few days ago at a BP garage on Herringthorpe Valley Road in Rotherham.

In the attack, the Asian man was said to have lost part of his finger as he was repeatedly punched in the early hours of Saturday morning on the 27th of February 2016. The injury was caused by what was described as a meat cleaver and the victim was attacked by a white male of tall build. He could not provide a description of the second individual involved.

The victim received medical attention in hospital after the attack and was in a stable condition.

Rotherham has become a focal point of far right activities and with community tensions and perceptions affected by the recent grooming scandal that has rocked the small town. More recently, South Yorkshire police have stepped up patrols after the verdict on the Rotherham grooming gang with a view to providing re-assurance to communities and ensuring a visible presence.

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