Islamophobia trial delayed over missing CCTV footage

Categories: Latest News
Monday December 05 2016
The Courier reports on the delay of the trial of seven men accused of attacking a Muslim takeaway owner in the days following the Paris attacks in November 2015, after prosecutors failed to retrieve all the CCTV footage from the shop.
Mohammed Khalid was allegedly assaulted by the men as he closed up his shop, the Caspian takeaway in Methil’s Wellsley Road, in the early hours of Sunday 15 November.
Mr Khalid, 53 was set upon by a group of men who allegedly verbally abused and physically assaulted him. His wife, Maqsooda, tried to intervene to get the men to stop. A fellow worker, Mohammed Nadeem, 35, was also allegedly punched and kicked.
The seven men appeared before Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court in August to enter a plea.
Kyle Campbell, 19; Brandon Munro, 18; Robbie Smart, 18; Connor Crombie 18; Sean Wood, 20, and two others aged 17 and 16, who cannot be named for legal reasons, appeared before the court over allegations of assault and racially aggravated abuse.
Munro, Smart and Campbell were also charged in connection with the attack on shop assistant Mohammed Nadeem, 35, who they allegedly punched repeatedly and kicked.
All seven individuals were charged with “acting in a racially aggravated manner which caused or was intended to cause alarm and distress” for allegedly shouting “racially offensive comments” at Mr Khalid.
Campbell, Munro (18), Smart (18), and the 17-year-old denied the charges on summary complaint.
Last week, while the seven men reappeared before the court, it transpired that the Crown Prosecution Service had failed to collect “all of the available CCTV from the Caspian takeaway”.
Sheriff James Williamson criticised the prosecutor’s office for failing to be ready for trial saying: “I’m getting fed up of the number of trials I’m asked to adjourn because the CCTV has not been made available.”
Sheriff Williamson adjourned the trial to a date in February and ordered a pre-trial hearing in January to check the availability of the CCTV footage.