Carlisle man who burnt Qur'an receives 70-day sentence
Categories: Latest News
Tuesday April 19 2011
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Coverage today in the Daily Mail and Daily Express on the sentencing of Andrew Ryan (pictured), the ex-soldier who stole a copy of the Qur’an from the local library in Carlisle and burnt it in January this year. Ryan claims he’d been moved to act in the way he did after seeing internet clips of Muslims Against Crusades burning poppies during the Armistice Day ceremony last November. |
From the Daily Mail:
“A man has been jailed for 70 days today after he burnt a copy of the Koran just over a month after a Muslim got away with a paltry £50 fine for a similar offence.
“Andrew Ryan, 32, stole a copy of the holy book from Carlisle Library then set it on fire by a monument in the city of Carlisle.
“Last month Emdadur Choudhury was fined after he burned a poppy outside the Royal Albert Hall in London on Remembrance Day while shouting ‘British soldiers burn in hell’.
“As he was led down to the cells, Ryan shouted at the judge at Carlisle Magistrates’ Court today: ‘What about burning poppies?’.
“Sentencing him at Carlisle Magistrates’ Court, District Judge Gerald Chalk said: ‘This is a case of theatrical bigotry. It was pre-planned by you as you stole the book deliberately. You went out to cause maximum publicity and to cause distress.’
The Daily Express adds Judge Gerald Chalk’s further comment: “People are entitled to protest, but not in a way that will cause harassment or distress to others.”
Perhaps MAC might reflect upon on the Judge’s words too next time they think to protest in repellent ways and consider the impact of their outrageous stunts on British Muslims who painfully observe an escalation in bigotry from both camps.