Man charged with racially aggravated criminal damage after attacking mosque

The Sunderland Echo reports on the charges brought against a member of the English Defence League for criminal damage to a mosque in the city following a rally by the far right group last month.

Connor McIntosh, 19, was arrested after being captured on CCTV lashing out at the Jami mosque in Chester Road, Sunderland. McIntosh had taken part in an EDL rally against a new mosque development in the city which won planning approval from Sunderland City Council in 2012 and which has been the focus of numerous far right protests ever since.

McIntosh was one of six men arrested at the EDL rally, as reported in the Sunderland Echo on 30 March.

Penny Bottomley, prosecuting, told the court that McIntosh asked during the police interview why he had been detained. Thinking it was because he was too drunk, he went on to make a series of disparaging comments about Muslims including remarks about ‘burning poppies’, ‘grooming our kids’ and saying there were ‘too many mosques’ in Britain.

Bottomley told the court McIntosh “confirmed he was a member of the EDL, and he was the male on the CCTV, and had ripped the pipe off the building himself.”

McIntosh pleaded guilty to causing racially-aggravated criminal damage. He was fined £110 and ordered to pay £100 compensation to the mosque, along with £85 court costs and a £20 victim surcharge.