Community order for man who stabbed Asian saying “God told me to do it”

The Metro, The Mirror and The Chronicle report on the trial of a man who stabbed an Asian male in the neck with a pair of scissors in a revenge attack for ISIS beheadings claiming “God told me to do it”.

The trial at Newcastle Crown Court heard that the victim, 32, had been waiting in his car outside a Tesco store in Sunderland when Michael Hilton, 33, approached him and asked for a lighter. When the victim turned his back, Mr Hilton stabbed him with a pair of scissors and then made a 999 call telling police “they should not be beheading people” and that “God told me to do it”.

Mr Hilton then told the police that just before he attacked his victim in November 2014, he had been hearing voices “telling him to attack Muslims”.

During the call to the police, Mr Hilton said the attack was “in the name of all the people beheaded by ISIS”.

Prosecutor Neil Jones, told the court: “The injured party, not being a smoker, looked to the rear passengers in the car and discovered no one had a lighter. While he was turning, his neck was stabbed by this defendant, using a pair of scissors.”

Mr Jones added “It seems the focus was on Islam.”

The victim has been left with a scar on his neck and had to receive a number of Hepatitis B injections following the attack. He said that he was now wary of strangers and that he found the references by his attacker to ISIS “deeply disturbing”.

He said: “There is no need for a complete stranger to make such racist remarks towards me in relation to race or religion.”

Mr Hilton, who was assessed by psychiatrists and has spent the last 16 months in prison on remand, admitted religiously aggravated assault.

Hilton was sentenced to a community order with supervision for 18 months. Recorder David Wilby QC on sentencing Hilton, said: “I want to make it clear to the complainant in this case that I am in no way belittling the gravity of the offence. He was stabbed in the neck with a pair of scissors by this man.”

But he said Mr Hilton’s psychological and physiological problems could be managed with help from the probation service.