Two men jailed for throwing bacon inside Camden mosque

The London Evening Standard and The Metro report on the jailing of two men for throwing strips of bacon into a mosque in Camden last month.

Mateusz Pawlikowski, 22, and Piotr Czak-Zukowski, 28, both Polish nationals, threw the meat inside the Al-Rahman Mosque at around 7pm on 2 October.

Each of the two men pleaded guilty to one charge of criminal damage and one charge of a racially/religiously aggravated public order offence at an earlier hearing at Highbury Corner Magistrates’ Court.

The court heard the men hurled expletives at a man at the mosque before throwing rashers of bacon at him and onto the floor by his feet.

The mosque alerted the police to the offence and when officers searched Czak-Zukowski they found an empty packet of bacon in his pocket.

Pawlikowski and Czak-Zukowski, were each sentenced to eight months in prison at Blackfriars Crown Court this week.

DC Tracey McMath, from the Camden community safety unit, said: “The defendants showed a complete disregard for the faith and belief of others in this callous and highly offensive incident; and I hope their convictions highlight that we will not tolerate hate crime in any of its forms.

“I know this incident has had a significant impact on the community and commend the victims for speaking up. “