
A British Muslim man who was found guilty of religiously aggravated assault after being accused of viciously beating three Jews in the Stamford Hill area of London has been given a court-ordered hospital stay instead of a jail sentence.
According to the Campaign Against Antisemitism, the court ruled that Abdullah Qureshi, 28, is “suffering from a mental disorder” and gave him a “hospital order” instead of putting him behind bars.
He was charged with religiously aggravated assault and two counts of religiously aggravated common assault after he allegedly “travelled from Yorkshire to attack Jews in Stamford Hill,” the UK Jewish News reported.
Qureshi was arrested after three separate attacks in the heavily Jewish Stamford Hill area occurred on August 18, 2021 against two Jewish men and a 14-year old boy as they were walking to a synagogue, the court was told.
One of the victims, a 64-year old man, was knocked out. The other man was hit on the head with a plastic bottle.
Police said that Qureshi, who is from West Yorkshire, targeted victims dressed in traditional religious clothing in Stamford Hill.
The prosecution argued that Qureshi, whose phone contained an Islamic protection prayer, hated Jews who he considered “evil” and his “enemy.”
Qureshi pleaded guilty on April 7 at Thames Magistrates’ Court to two counts of assault by beating and one count of grievous bodily harm with intent.
The incidents, widely reported in British media, led to London Mayor Sadiq Khan describing the attacks as “appalling.”
“Let me be clear, racist abuse and hate crime, including antisemitism, have absolutely no place in our city,” he said at the time.
Shortly after, Campaign Against Antisemitism revealed that the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) had dropped the racially and religiously aggravated element of the charges as part of a plea deal with Qureshi.
But, CAA stressed that “after we, Shomrim, CST and other communal organizations made representations to the CPS, it agreed to reinstate the aggravated elements, but Qureshi appeared in court to resist the reinstatement of the aggravated element.”
In August, Stratford Magistrates’ Court agreed to reinstate the racially/religiously aggravated element to the charges against Qureshi, to which he ended up pleading not guilty. In November, Qureshi was found guilty of the reinstated aggravated charges.
Qureshi’s sentencing was delayed from December until this month after the court was told that he suffered from anxiety and depression and he had been hearing “internal voices” which he said told him to carry out the assaults. A forensic medicine specialist told the court that the defendant was “currently presenting psychotic symptoms.”
This week, instead of a prison sentence, Qureshi was given an “interim hospital order” by the court, using Section 38 of the Mental Health Act.
According to CAA, such an order is given when a person has been convicted but a court has been advised by doctors that the person has a mental health issue that requires hospital treatment before sentencing should occur.
The judge presiding over his case told the court: “I am satisfied Mr. Qureshi is suffering from a mental disorder.”