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Issue 284, Friday 28 December 2012 - 14 Safar 1434 Teen arrested for hate crime on Sussex mosque By Elham Asaad Buaras
A 16-year-old was arrested after pieces of ham were thrown at the Broadfield Mosque in Crawley at 4pm on November 20. Officers were alerted after worshippers leaving the centre saw a youth throwing the meat. The arrested teenager, who is from the local area, was arrested on suspicion of a religiously aggravated public order offence and was questioned before being released on bail while inquiries continue. Brighton and Hove Muslim Forum Chair, Tariq Jung, said that he was saddened by the incident said: “The community in Crawley both Muslim and non-Muslim are very close and understandably a lot of people will be very distressed by this. “Things like this have been happening to Muslims for hundreds of years. It doesn’t change who we are or our faith. “There are strong links in Crawley between the different religions and I know they will come together to condemn this. “This is just a handful of people being silly and it is important to remember that. “However it is very sad that people act like this. It is upsetting.” Sergeant Jim Collen, of Sussex Police, said: “This was a very unpleasant incident which has naturally caused real anguish and anxiety amongst worshippers at the mosque.” Disorder which broke out following the incident was also being investigated, police said. In a statement to The Muslim News a spokesman for Sussex Police said: “We are aware of a relatively minor altercation that we hope to resolve using our restorative justice programme. “It must not be allowed to take the focus away from our investigation of the hate crime as this remains our priority.” |
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Pieces of ham were thrown at the Broadfield Mosque in Crawley on November 20