Friday, June 24, 2011

UK: Ham stuffed in shoes of worshippers at Bristol mosque

A Bristol man was given a six-month suspended sentence on June 5 for hanging slices of ham on the railings of a Bristol mosque and placing pieces of the meat in the shoes of its worshippers while they prayed.

Jamie Knowlson of Charlton Road, Kingswood, escaped a prison sentence because he returned to the mosque to apologise in person for his actions.

The court heard that at 6.30am on January 9, the 30 year-old had gone to the Al-Baseera Mosque, Wade Street in St Judes. He was seen putting slices of ham from the hostel on to the railings and into the shoes of worshippers, which were left outside the mosque while they prayed.

He was spotted running off to a nearby hostel, and when mosque staff followed they had offensive taunts shouted at them.

His behaviour left the community “disgusted and saddened”.After his arrest Knowlson said he had no idea that putting ham in worshippers’ shoes would be offensive, saying it was just a prank. But he later admitted to police that he had been fully aware of the implications.

Knowlson, pleaded guilty to causing racially or religiously aggravated harassment last month at Bristol Magistrates’ Court.CCTV showed him returning to the hostel, and the mosque’s caretaker, Abdi Djmaa, followed to complain.

As Djmaa returned to the mosque he heard someone shouting “bad meat”, “girls” and “the next visit will be harder”. Police were called, and as officers and another man removed the ham, they heard laughter coming from the hostel.

Worshipper at the mosque Hamed Abuzeid told The Muslim News, “He [Knowlson] may have been drunk but he knew what he was doing. He chose a pig product to offend Muslims.”The Al-Baseera mosque opened in 2005 and more than 2,000 Somali Muslims use it every week.

Source: The Muslim News

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