A British Muslim has shown ‘no remorse’ after desecrating a town’s war memorial with extremist Islamic slogans, a court has heard.
But the Crown Prosecution Service has decided that graffiti proclaiming future world domination for Islam, glorifying Osama Bin Laden and calling for the assassination of the British Prime Minister, ‘was not religiously or racially motivated’.
Tohseef Shah, 21, admitted a charge of criminal damage to the memorial, outside Burton College in Burton on Trent, when he appeared at Burton Magistrates Court.
Shah admitted spraying the words ‘Islam will dominate the world – Osama is on his way’ and ‘Kill Gordon Brown’ on the plinth of the East Staffordshire Borough Council-owned memorial, on December 10 last year.
He was given a two-year conditional discharge and was ordered to pay £500 compensation to the council, plus £85 costs.
Prosecutor Andrew Bodger said information about Shah and photographs of the graffiti were sent to CPS headquarters in London, for a review by senior lawyers.
They found there was insufficient evidence that the criminal act was racially or religiously motivated – which could have led to a more serious charges and a harsher sentence.
The graffiti was discovered by a council street cleaning manager, who reported the incident and photographed the damage.
The pictures of the desecration were shown in court.
CCTV footage showed two figures spraying the slogans on the memorial. Although they could not be clearly identified, the footage showed one of the vandals discarding the spray can.
Shah, Horninglow, Staffordshire, has no previous convictions.
He was later identified from DNA on the spray can and admitted his actions.
Mr Bodger said: ‘Shah wouldn’t give an explanation as to why he had done it and had shown no remorse for this very sensitive matter.
‘The words were cleaned off without difficulty at a cost of £500.
‘The CPS specialist unit was sent the pictures, as well as his mobile phone records, to see if there was a racially or religiously motivated connotation.
‘It was decided there was not enough evidence to prove this, and they decided it was politically motivated. It has caused great offence to the community.’
Defending solicitor Mumtaz Chaudry dismissed any belief that Shah held extremist views.
He said: ‘This is nothing to do with his religious beliefs, his family’s beliefs or his cultural beliefs. He is just an ordinary guy.
‘He is remorseful but, at the time of his interview, he was simply answering questions and didn’t realise that was the right time to show remorse.
‘He has no extremist views, his action doesn’t help the bad reaction in the community.
‘It was uncalled for, but we make mistakes. It was a stupid mistake and he is determined not to repeat it.’
Presiding magistrate Vivien Patterson told Shah: ‘This was a mistake, but I hope this is the first and last mistake you will make.
‘Although the damage is in the lower band, we view this in the upper end because it was highly visible to the community, in the town centre.
‘Your conditional discharge for two years means if you come back here again for another offence, you will be charged with this offence too.’
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