Posted on 05/23/2011 4:49:43 PM PDT by naturalman1975
A gang of four Muslim men launched a horrific attack on an RE teacher because they did not approve of him teaching religious studies to Muslim girls, a court heard yesterday.
Gary Smith, 28, was left with facial scarring, both long and short-term memory loss, and now has no sense of smell.
He became depressed after his face was slashed and he suffered a brain haemorrhage, fractured skull and broken jaw following the attack.
The men were said to have attempted the assault several times, ‘lying in wait’ for Mr Smith before successfully am-bushing him on his way to work on July 12 last year.
The gang was recorded planning the attack by detectives who had bugged defendant Akmol Hussain’s car over an unrelated matter.
They were taped saying they wanted to hit or kill the teacher just because he was the head of religious studies at the Central Foundation School for Girls in Bow, East London.
In one recording Hussain said: ‘He’s mocking Islam and he’s putting doubts in people’s minds . . . How can somebody take a job to teach Islam when they’re not even a Muslim themselves?’
Armed with an iron rod and brick, they punched, kicked and attacked Mr Smith, leaving him unconscious covered in blood on the pavement in Burdett Road, Tower Hamlets, East London.
Mr Smith was taken to hospital after he was found by two passers-by, and only regained consciousness two days later.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Britain has the law of prejudice as far as criminal trials are concerned. The press are not allowed to make comment that may prejudice the rights of the accused.
Personally I am the vast majority of British people support that law.
...I agree...the nanny state is acting like the fire-suppression strategy followed by the US Forest Service in our western states: it preserved the status quo of pretty forests for many years, but it also allowed fuel in the form of dead trees to build up to dangerous levels. When fires did happen, they quickly burned out of control and did a lot of damage.
Thanks for the “legality” clarification on the “no comments” rule.
I’m not sure I totally agree with it, though I understand the desire to not create a lynch-mob atmosphere. Still it wouldn’t be difficult for a newspaper to “prejudice” a case by simply emphasizing certain facts over others. If one wanted to be purist about it, the words in the headline, “gang”, “horrific” could be construed as prejudicial.
By the way, do you happen to know if the religion course is still being taught (including muslim girls)? That after all is the real target of this attack.
1—Its more a law to stop columnists and editorials prejudicing the trial.
2—Yes, I have checked the website of the school and RE is still being taught and the course looks at and ‘questions’ aspects of all religions.
Five men jailed for terms of 5,5,4,4 and 2 years.
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