Man who attacked Edinburgh central mosque twice in two years appears at Glasgow High Court

STV News reports on the court appearance of a man who was arrested in connection with a petrol bomb attack on Edinburgh Central mosque last September. 

Thomas Conington, 28, initially claimed he was innocent but pleaded guilty to wilful fire-raising, behaving in a threatening manner and a charge under the Explosives Act, all aggravated by religious prejudice, when he appeared before the High Court in Glasgow this week.

Conington also admitted acting in a racially aggravated manner in an encounter with a supermarket security guard during a separate incident. BBC News reports Luke shouted at security guard Yakub Moro at the Tesco store in Duke Street in the Scottish capital on 3 March 2016.

Edinburgh central mosque was targeted in the early hours of Sunday 18 September and suffered minor fire damage in the attack. The court heard Conington has targeted the mosque a year previously, in July 2015. Thankfully neither attack caused major damage to the mosque building in the Potterrow area of the city.

Conington, described in the news report as a “neo-Nazi” who “has a swastika tattoo on his chest,” was remanded in custody pending sentencing in February.

Prosecutor Jim Keegan told the High Court in Glasgow Conington was a “racist and bigoted individual”.