Rotherham – Faith Matters

Driver who targeted London mosque was angered by Islamist attacks, TV show-prosecutor

Faith Matters — Mon, 22 Jan 2018 23:37:58 +0000

A man who drove a van into Muslim worshippers outside a mosque last June was motivated by deadly Islamist attacks in Britain and an obsession with a television account of Muslim men who targeted white girls, a London court heard on Monday.

Darren Osborne, 48, also lambasted politicians, calling London Mayor Sadiq Khan a disgrace and Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn a “terrorist sympathiser”, prosecutor Jonathan Rees said, quoting from a note he said Osborne left in the van.

The note described Muslim men as rapists, “feral” and “in-bred” and when he was detained after the attack, Osborne said: “At least I had a go”, Rees told Woolwich Crown Court.

Osborne is accused of murdering Makram Ali, 51, a father of six who came to Britain from Bangladesh aged 10, and the attempted murder of other worshippers as they left a mosque in Finsbury Park in north London after late-night Ramadan prayers.

Osborne has denied the accusations.

“The evidence establishes that the defendant was trying to kill as many of the group as possible,” Rees told jurors. “The prosecution say that the note and the comments he made after his detention establish that this act of extreme violence was, indeed, an act of terrorism, designed to influence government and intimidate the Muslim community.”

The incident occurred just weeks after three Islamists drove a van into pedestrians on London Bridge before going on a knife rampage, killing eight.

That attack came the month after a suicide bombing at a pop concert in Manchester killed 22 people. In March another Islamic State-inspired attacker killed five people by driving a car into passers-by on London’s Westminster Bridge and then stabbing to death a police officer in the grounds of parliament.

Rees said Osborne hired a van and drove to London from his home in Cardiff. After a plan to attack an anti-Israel march failed, Osborne drove around seeking alternative targets.

He is accused of ramming the crowd at Finsbury Park as worshippers helped Ali who he had earlier become unwell.

The court was told Osborne, who had never previously openly expressed racist opinions, had become obsessed with Muslims in the weeks before the attack after watching a BBC television drama “Three Girls”, based on true stories of victims of child sex gangs comprised mainly of British Pakistani men.

Rees said Osborne searched online for material related to the show, some of which was connected to far-right groups and Jayda Fransen, deputy leader of Britain First.

One of Fransen’s messages was re-tweeted by U.S. President Donald Trump in November.

Two days before the attack, Osborne told a serving soldier in a pub in Cardiff: “I’m going to kill all the Muslims”, the jurors were told.

Rees said Osborne’s former partner Sarah Andrews described the father of four as a loner and a functioning alcoholic with an unpredictable temperament who took medication for depression.

“With the benefit of hindsight, she describes him as a ticking time-bomb,” the prosecutor said.

The trial, which is expected to last two weeks, continues.

Police probe far-right vandalism at proposed mosque in Lincoln

Tell Mama — Fri, 18 Mar 2016 18:09:37 +0000

Lincolnshire Police are investigating claims that a supporter of the English Defence League (EDL) vandalised the site of a proposed mosque with offensive posters.

At 9:03pm on March 17, Paul Whiteside uploaded an image to his Facebook outside of the proposed site. Two of the posters made reference to child sexual exploitation in Rotherham. The other poster read ‘No More Mosques’. Whiteside captioned the photo ‘Licolnite mosque lol’.

One poster parodied the Daily Mirror’s front page headlined ‘Horrific betrayal of 1,400 children,’ published on August 27, 2014. The crude edits morphed the front page into the ‘Daily EDL’. Its subheading read ‘Don’t let it happen in Lincoln’.

DAILY MIRROR FRONT PAGE: “Horrific betrayal of 1,400 children” #skypapers pic.twitter.com/4VXWuqKZ67

— Sky News (@SkyNews) August 26, 2014

The front page gave weight to the idea of a culture of ‘political correctness’ shielding criminals. This, however, did not tell the whole story.

For people like Paul Whiteside, these complexities do not matter. He’s already found the justification in his own beliefs. Whiteside posted, “The reason behind the posters on the gates of the mosque is a protest against all the mosques being built in britain”.

He went on to claim that, “Grooming gangs like Rotherham all stem from mosques, are you telling me that the information about the girls wasn’t passed around at the mosque but no-one at the mosque was willing to notify the police”.

Whiteside told the Lincolnite that: “The media aren’t telling you what’s really going off, grooming gangs all over the UK, terrorists storing weapons in mosques all over Europe.”

On Facebook, he speculates that the ‘influx of Muslim refugees’ will create more problems. He offers no evidence for it. But that’s not the point. He has his own online echo chamber – which contains conspiracy and hate websites. This crossover of conspiracy theory and hate sites fits Barkun’s theory of ‘stigmatized knowledge‘. In short, ‘stigmatized knowledge’ allows individuals to present information that mainstream institutions have not validated as ‘true’.

A self-confessed Trump supporter, he rejects political correctness and admires Nick Griffin. Anti-Muslim conspiracy theorist Pamela Geller also appears in his Facebook ‘likes’.

A hatred of refugees and Muslims underpins much of his online rhetoric. In response to an article on Syrian refugees he wrote, “You are wanting to flood England with muslims and their ideology that as no place in the west,do you really want our beautiful home to end up like Sweden”.

Whiteside had attended a far-right demonstration in Dover on January 30. An event which brought together the National Front, North West Infidels, National Action, Misanthropic Division, British Movement and Scottish Defence League.

Tanweer Ahmed, the chairman of the Islamic Association, praised community cohesion at the expense of division.

Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call 101 or contact Inspector Suzanne Davies, Community Policing Inspector for Lincoln South West Policing area directly.

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Rotherham – Shocking Pictures Emerge of British Asian Attacked in Racial Incident

Tell Mama — Thu, 03 Mar 2016 02:43:03 +0000

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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The Mushin Ahmed trial: when anti-Muslim hate turns to murder

Tell Mama — Mon, 29 Feb 2016 16:42:48 +0000

Dale Jones, 30, of East Bawtry Road in Rotherham, gave no reaction when found guilty of murdering Mushin Ahmed, 81. A lack of reaction matched only by his lack of remorse. Judge Mr Justice Males said Jones was a ‘racist thug’ who cared little for the suffering he caused.

Jones had refused to see Mr Ahmed for what he was: a loving and kind husband, father, and grandfather. A pensioner who commanded respect and adoration from the local community. His family recalled a man who smiled and spoke to many people. A man who imparted his strong moral core on those around him.

August 10, 2015 should have been an uneventful evening for Mushin Ahmed. He should have been able to attend early morning prayers at his local mosque. Dale Jones, however, took that from him. Though others shared in his crime.

Damien Hunt, 30, of Doncaster Road in Rotherham, helped stalk Mr Ahmed. He and Jones walked together like ‘soldiers’, according to the prosecution. Here, Jones had reduced Mushin Ahmed to a slur that grows more common in Rotherham – ‘groomer’. A reference to the nightmarish child sexual exploitation scandal in the town. Where criminal gangs exploited vulnerable young girls due in part to a wider culture of indifference and victim blaming.

Mr Ahmed ignored the abuse and walked away. Hunt and Jones soon had the 81-year-old trapped. Hunt then punched Mr Ahmed to the ground before Jones stamped and kicked the pensioner.

The sustained assault matched the venom of the intended slur. A shoe print left on Mr Ahmed’s skin matched the brand of Adidas trainer Jones had worn that evening. He left Mr Ahmed with fractures to his eye sockets, nose and jaw.

For his part, Damien Hunt, had punched Mr Ahmed with such force that it removed the pensioner’s dentures. Officers found Mr Hunt’s blood still on the broken dentures when they arrived at the scene.

Both men had launched their attack at around 3:20am. They left Mushin Ahmed to die. Around an hour later and Jones saw a friend and told him ‘It is a good job you are not a P*ki’.

A passer-by found Mr Ahmed laying in the grass at around 5:25am. He had been alone and in terrible pain for two hours. Bleeding and brain-damaged, he coughed blood upon arrival at the hospital. Dale Jones, however, spent that time trying to wash away Mr Ahmed’s blood from his clothes.

Forensic pathologist Dr Charles Wilson told the jury at Sheffield Crown Court that Mr Ahmed died from pneumonia. An illness common with patients that suffer serious head injuries, he argued.

Days after his murder, a vigil brought together local Yemeni communities and members of Unite Against Fascism.

Jones and Hunt appeared in court a month later. The charge of assault causing grievous bodily harm with intent turned to murder.

After the funeral in October, his family released a copy of the memorial card through South Yorkshire Police. It read: ‘Each time we look at your picture you seem to smile and say “Don’t be sad but courage take, and love each other for my sake”‘.

During the trial, the prosecution revealed that Hunt had lied in his first police interview on August 13. He told South Yorkshire Police that his bloodied knuckles came from hitting a lamppost while riding his bicycle.

After CCTV placed both men at the scene, Hunt remained trapped in his lies. A week after his initial police interview, he told police that he cut his knuckles trying to stop Jones from assaulting Mr Ahmed. That would again change under scrutiny. During the trial, Hunt maintained that he had punched Mr Ahmed by accident while attempting to stop Dale Jones. Piolice found spots of Mr Ahmed’s blood on his trainers.

Hunt later admitted going fishing for two hours after the fatal assault to ‘avoid’ the police. Under cross-examination he also claimed that he had convinced Jones not to return to the scene and further the assault.

Dale Jones gave ‘no comment’ answers to police and declined to testify during the trial. The content of his character during the trial pointed to a history of violence and racism.

On the night of the fatal attack, Jones had attempted to attack an Asian taxi driver and shouted racist abuse at him. He had made death threats against his girlfriend’s former partner earlier that day. The mixture of alcohol and cocaine served to heighten his racist and violent urges.

Jones had received an eight-week suspended sentence in relation to football hooliganism. Probation officer Alisdair Kirkpatrick told the jury that Jones had said to him that ‘P**** make me very angry’. Kirkpatrick asked why and he replied: ‘All P**** are rapists’.

Jones had also kicked a man in the head outside a pub. He had assaulted his ex-partner in front of their child. Jones had punched her in the face and had attempted to gouge her eyes. In another example of violence, Jones and two others had assaulted a man from behind and leaving him unconscious.

Peggy Ahmed spoke of her deep grief at losing her husband of almost 50 years. “I have the rest of my life to spend without my beloved husband and my pain and loss is almost indescribable,” she said. They had lived in the same house together for 47 years.

Dale Jones will now spend the rest of his life in prison, with a minimum sentence of 32 years. The jury found Damien Hunt not guilty of murder; but he will spend 14 years in prison for manslaughter.

Detective Chief Inspector Victoria Short, the Senior Investigating Officer for this case, said: “The pair refused to take responsibility for their crime, putting Mr Ahmed’s family through the further distress of a court trial where they had to hear in detail what happened to their loved one. This family have demonstrated exceptional strength and dignity while listening to shocking evidence”.

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‘A Deep Hatred of P****’ and Taunted with the term ‘Groomer’. The Murder of Mushin Ahmed

Tell Mama — Thu, 25 Feb 2016 14:07:06 +0000

Dale Jones, 30, was found guilty of the murder of Mushin Ahmed, 81, at Sheffield Crown Court yesterday.

During the trial, a probation officer noted that Jones had a deep hatred of ‘P*kis’ – who he believed were all rapists.

Drunk and high on drugs, Jones had racially abused a taxi driver before the fatal assault on Mr Ahmed.

The co-accused, Damien Hunt, 30, told the court that the enraged Jones had ‘circled’ Mr Ahmed and called him a ‘groomer’ on multiple occasions. Mushin Ahmed ignored the taunts as he continued on with his journey to his local mosque.

The court heard of Jones’s history of violence, against strangers and his ex-partner.

The attack proved so vicious that the imprint of his trainer was left on Mr Ahmed’s fractured skull. The DNA of the co-accused were found on his broken dentures.

Mushin Ahmed lay on the grass for two hours until a member of the public flagged down a police car. He died 11 days later.

As the trial ends. The family and wider Muslim community in Rotherham have justice. But this situation should never have happened. No person should ever face the violence Mr Ahmed did, especially at his age. He was no threat to anyone, let alone a racist and murderous thug like Dale Jones.

It’s no accident that Mr Ahmed suffered the indignity of being called a ‘groomer’. Some are exploiting the horrific abuse of young girls in the area to pursue racist agendas. We’ve seen traumas sensationalised and reduced to a simplified blame game of ‘PC culture’. In truth, these criminal gangs continued to exploit vulnerable young girls due in part to a wider culture of indifference and victim blaming.

Others throw these slurs at Muslim men, who are mythologised as sexual deviants and paedophiles. This toxic climate is enabling the far-right to broaden their appeal and speak to, or at least exploit sentiments of individuals.

A man is dead. A family and community mourn. Yet we are no closer to overcoming the bigotry that inspired such violence. Anti-Muslim hate can lead to murder. We saw that in 2013 with the murder of another pensioner, Mohammed Saleem, at the hands of a Ukrainian terrorist who had a deep hatred of Muslims. The circumstances were different. But the consequences of their hatred proved fatal.

How did we get here? These incidents are rare but remain increasingly of concern.

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Teacher in Rotherham Under Police Investigation for Alleged Anti-Muslim Bigotry

Tell Mama — Sun, 06 Dec 2015 18:54:06 +0000

A TEACHER at a school in Rotherham is under police investigation after it was reported that he called a 14-year-old boy a “terrorist” in a lesson three days after the Paris attacks.

The parents of Aman Ghani filed a complaint to Clifton Community School after their son returned home “tearful and distraught”.

They claim he was sent out of the class after being told “stop talking, you terrorist”. The boy’s classmates allege the teacher then said that “Asian parents don’t know how to bring up their children”.

The grievance is one of 164 claims of Islamophobic abuse reported in the fortnight following the terrorist atrocities in France on November 13 to TellMAMA, an organisation that records anti-Muslim hate crimes. The group says it has seen a marked increase in cases since the Paris attacks.

Nazlie Shan, the pupil’s mother, said she had contacted the group for advice after the school allegedly failed initially to take action. “The teacher called my son a terrorist in front of the whole class,” she claimed. “Later when he asked, ‘Sir, why did you call me that?’ the teacher lost it. He asked Aman, ‘Is it because my God treats you better than me?’ implying Muslims think they are superior.”

Shan, a driving instructor, said her son had seen news reports of the Paris terror attacks and believed that they had prompted the alleged comments.

“It’s disgusting. I feel as if we are being victimised because of a small minority who have nothing to do with us. It’s a hate crime against our religion,” she claimed.

“My son keeps asking me why his teacher would call him that and I don’t know what to say. If there is a teacher promoting this kind of hatred, then what chance is there for the children?”

The school initially asked Rotherham council to investigate but now South Yorkshire police have confirmed they are investigating reports of a racially aggravated incident.

The school declined to comment last week.

Karen Borthwick, Rotherham council’s director for schools and lifelong learning, confirmed that a complaint had been received.

“We are working with the school to investigate the matter,” she said.

“It would be inappropriate to comment ahead of the outcome.”

The complaint is one of 22 reports of Islamophobic abuse against children received by Tell MAMA since January, with the youngest victim aged four.

Article printed in the Sunday Times on the 6/12/2015

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Asian Male Viciously Attacked in Rotherham. Town Becomes Flashpoint for Racist Hate

Tell Mama — Wed, 04 Nov 2015 14:50:50 +0000

Two Asian males were assaulted in the grounds of the Asda supermarket in the Dalton area of Rotherham yesterday. The attack was particularly violent and Tell MAMA has spoken to one of the victims today as he made his way to the hospital after a brutal assault on the young man as he simply walked out of the Asda store after buying his lunch.

This is a short transcript of some of the details of the assault on the young man of Pakistani heritage:

“I was shopping in Asda around mid-day yesterday with my young brother and we bought some food and some cans of baked beans. I was holding the crate of food and we decided that we needed to get some money out of the cash machine before we left the supermarket. I withdrew the money and took back the crate from my brother and noticed that there was a young white male with two females, parked very close to my car.

As I walked to the my vehicle, I noticed the young white male make statements against another Asian male in the car park who drove off looking rather irritated. I thought nothing of it, though as I got close to my car, I also noticed that there was another white male who came out of the entrance to Asda and who was shouting at me. He kept saying “what are you laughing at” and got more and more aggressive as he approached me. Whilst doing so, he also put on a glove and I took that to be that he was going to assault me.

I put down the crate in an effort to try and defend myself but the assault on me started and continued with the aggressive white male perpetrator getting me into a headlock. It was then that I noticed that I was being attacked by the second male I had seen next to my vehicle and by this time I had curled up into a ball onto the ground as they continued to assault and kick me.

What followed was then brutal. The perpetrators picked up my cans of food and started to throw them at my head. One of them hit me in the head with significant force and cans were being continuously thrown at me which could have caused me a serious head injury.

I remember threats being made against my younger brother and racially motivated hate speech being voiced by the attackers. They clearly were looking to target someone who was Asian and they found a target in me.

It was only because of the actions of the supermarket security guard that probably saved me from very serious injury as he came to my defence and pushed the attackers apart. Finally, what is also sad is that the females in the vehicle moved the vehicle whilst I was being attacked so that the group could make a get away. They were accomplices in this.”

Another day and another racially aggravated hate crime in the small town of Rotherham. Some within the Asian community say that Rotherham has become ‘the flashpoint’ for race hatred after the grooming scandal. Only time will tell whether things continue to get worse or better.

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An Affront to Modern Britain. This is the Racism That Some Suffer Today

Tell Mama — Sun, 01 Nov 2015 17:43:28 +0000

This is the photo that was sent into us today. The family in Rotherham woke up to this on their gate and they have suffered years of racism and hatred.

Who would think that in 2015 such graffiti would be posted on the property of an Asian family? Yet these issues are sadly not one-offs and seeing the graffiti brings home the fact that there is still much work to be done.

We also acknowledge that Rotherham has sadly become a flashpoint for community tensions and recently, local individuals supported a boycott of community engagement with the police. The boycott was resolved within days though it shows that there are relationships and bridges that need to be built-in the area.

In the meantime, if you know of anyone who has suffered such intolerance, hate and bigotry, do tell them to get in touch with us on info@tellmamauk.org or through our helpline on 0800 456 1226. You can speak to our caseworker between 9 am to 6 pm on Monday to Fridays and you can also SMS us on 0115 707 0007. Finally, you can also tweet us on @tellmamauk.

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Rotherham Community Relations Under Tension

Tell Mama — Mon, 26 Oct 2015 15:45:20 +0000

Sadly, if there is one town which has become the focal point for the press and for child sexual exploitation – it is sadly the town of Rotherham. Many residents speak disparagingly about the way that their town has been viewed by people across the country, including extremist and far right groups overseas who regularly cite the town as an example of what they say has gone wrong with ‘multi-culturalism.’

Many of these online social commentators have never stepped foot in Rotherham to see a local population which is trying to get on and move past the vile commentary circulated by some, where Rotherham is quoted by far right groups as being the ‘grooming capital’ of the country. This narrative by far right sympathisers is used time and time again to promote bigotry against residents whose heritage is of a Pakistani Muslim background. Yet, in all of this, the town of Rotherham is still recovering from the wide scale abuse of young women that took place.

We understand the mistrust and frustration that Muslim communities feel locally in Rotherham. This has been highlighted through a statement on the British Muslim Youth’s web-site. Some of this feeling has come about due to the following reasons:

Arrest warrants being issued after the recent Britain First demonstrations in Rotherham, where young British Asians of Pakistani heritage feel that they have been unfairly targeted for defending themselves from far right sympathisers who attacked them with bottles.
Ongoing concerns about attacks on taxi drivers in Rotherham and where the perception has been that victims do not seem to get justice in cases which have involved some violent activity.
A strong sense of distrust that has been rapidly building over community policing and the perceived lack of action on hate crime cases.
Concerns that local British Asians of Pakistani heritage feel that they are made to feel a sense of ‘collective guilt’ over the grooming scandal when they tell us that they have stood up and actively demonstrated against child sexual exploitation.
A sense of lack of strong and sustained engagement between South Yorkshire Police and the local British Asian community.

Given the focus by far right groups on the town and the breakdown in policing and community relations, we believe that immediate steps need to be taken by local organisations and by the police to bridge the divide. For our part, we are providing hate crime training to Rotherham residents this week and we will try and provide some re-assurance about the need to report in hate incidents and crimes that affect the British Asian community of Pakistani heritage.

Tell MAMA remains committed to the residents of Rotherham and we will work with local partners and civil society groups in ensuring that communities feel that their voices are heard on issues of anti-Muslim prejudice. We have also been active in recording incidents of anti-Muslim hatred and in supporting victims in the local area.

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Family of Mushin Ahmed of Rotherham, Release a Statement

Tell Mama — Fri, 09 Oct 2015 11:33:58 +0000

This is the statement that was released after the burial of Mushin Ahmed, the grandfather who was murdered when returning from Fajr prayers. This was released via the South Yorkshire Police web-site.

The brief statement from his wife reads: “My husband and the father of our four children was the most sincere, kind and gentle man.

He loved Yemen and England and Ireland, and was incredibly proud to be a Yorkshireman.

We’d like to thank everyone within our local community and beyond, who have offered us overwhelming support throughout the most difficult time in our lives.

The community has come together united in sorrow at the loss of our husband, father and friend.

Mushin was a loving, friendly man and he would want us to try and bring something positive out of our grief, in the hope that no other families should ever have to go through this pain.”

A copy of the memorial card for Mr Ahmed has also has been released as the family reiterate their request to the media for their privacy to be respected.

Two men have been charged with Mr Ahmed’s murder and are currently on remand.

Damien Hunt, 29, of Doncaster Road, Rotherham, and Dale Jones, 29, of East Bawtry Road, Rotherham, will next appear at Sheffield Crown Court on Friday 20 November 2015

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