A man racially attacks a Jewish man and accuses him of ‘killing babies’. UK | news

A man has admitted racially aggravated assault after abusing an Orthodox Jewish man and accusing him of “killing babies. ”.

Shafiq Rahman, 48, pleaded guilty at Reading Magistrates Court on Friday to racially aggravated common assault, inciting fear or violence by means of words and criminal damage.

The victim was working in Elliman Avenue, Slough, Berkshire, on April 20 when Rahman passed by on a bicycle and began shouting at him. The court showed a video of the attack, in which Rahman called the victim a “dirty Jew,” accused him of “killing children in Palestine,” and threatened to “break his jaw.”

District Judge Devinder Sandhu described the attack as a “pure hate crime.”.

He added, “I am shocked and appalled by what I saw in that footage, a completely unprovoked attack on a man who was simply doing his job.”

Rahman appeared in the dock wearing a grey prison jumper and was asked to confirm his name, address, and date of birth and admit the charges.

Anoushka A., prosecuting, said, “The victim was in the area for some work due to his business commitments; the defendant was on his bicycle. He shouted, ‘Jew, what are you doing here, Jew?'”

He added, “I believe the victim was wearing a kippah, and I believe that’s why he was targeted for this attack.”

The victim, Moshe, was not in court, but his police statement was read.

It read: “This incident has changed my perspective on being openly Jewish in public.”

He said that although he had “read about attacks in the news”, he had never experienced anything like it before and that he felt “physically targeted because of my religion”.

Judge Sandhu released Rahman on bail pending, among other matters, sentencing at Reading Crown Court on 10 July.

Rabbi Hershel Gluck, chairman of the volunteer-run neighbourhood watch group Shomrim North and East London, told the Press Association that the victim was “deeply shocked and amazed that someone could behave like this”: “He is recovering, but certainly it is a shock to the system.”

Rabbi Gluck said incidents like these should n’t happen and the government needs to do more to stop them.

He said, “First, they need to talk to us to understand what’s going on and then deal with it as a British matter.”

“They need to look at this matter from the perspective that British citizens are being attacked and being subjected to racial abuse, and what can they, the government, do to change the direction of travel?”

Rabbi Gluck continued: “An incident like this is similar to many incidents.

“I think every decent human being would be shocked by this incident.

“The vast majority of people in the UK, from all backgrounds, are decent human beings.

“Such incidents shouldn’t happen anywhere or to anyone.”

A spokesperson for the Jewish charity Community Security Trust said, “This was a shameful, horrific incident, and we are grateful to Thames Valley Police and the CPS for their prompt action in ensuring an arrest and conviction.

“No one should be targeted because of who they are, and anti-Semitic hate crimes like these continue to create fear and anxiety for Jewish people across the country.

“We will continue to collaborate with the police, government, and local communities to combat anti-Semitism wherever it appears.”

Detective Inspector Terry Dixon, investigating officer from the Berkshire East Priority Crime Team, said, “I hope Rahman’s sentencing today shows our communities how seriously we take incidents of this nature and how we will do everything in our power to bring those who commit hate crimes to justice as quickly as possible.

“Anti-Semitic incidents, or indeed any hate-related incidents reported in the Thames Valley, will not be tolerated by the police, and we will do everything in our power to ensure that those responsible face consequences.”