Man fined after admitting smashing mosque’s windows in Nottingham

The Nottingham Post reports on the sentencing of a man who admitted smashing a mosque’s windows earlier this year.

Martin O’Connor, a 49-year-old from Radford, admitted breaking the windows of Nottingham’s Masjid Umar Mosque and Islamic Centre, in Alfreton Road, with a hammer. The incident occurred at around 11:25pm on Monday 3 July.

Although people were praying inside the mosque at the time, fortunately nobody was injured in the attack.

Speaking after the incident, Dr Ibrahim Hammad told the paper: “It did shock us, it’s an awful thing to do. This was just one individual’s behaviour. Nottingham people will stand shoulder to shoulder with us against this.”

O’Connor pleaded guilty to religiously aggravated criminal damage when appearing in Nottingham Magistrates Court on August 29. He was given a two-year conditional discharge and ordered to pay £200 compensation, a £20 victim surcharge and £85 court costs.