London, UK
London, UKiStock

A UK man accused of punching a pregnant Jewish woman in a Jewish area of London is mentally ill, his lawyer told the court, the Jewish Chronicle reported.

On March 18, Keith Gowers, 59, allegedly followed Beilla Reis through an alleyway in the Stamford Hill section on London, where there is a large Jewish community.

He caught up to her and then forced a black bag over head head, proceeding to punch her several times before fleeing.

Reis, 20, was 27 weeks pregnant at the time of the assault. She was rushed to the hospital with minor injuries but was not seriously hurt.

Security footage posted by Stamford Hill Shomrim showed a man following Reis into the alley, where he came up behind her, covered her head with what looks like a black pillowcase and then strikes her several times before running away.

“Appeal to identify an extremely dangerous fugitive who is still on the loose after CCTV captures a male viciously attacking a young pregnant woman in StamfordHill in an unprovoked attack. Shomrim volunteers have increased patrols after a recent spike in assaults on lone females,” tweeted Shomrim about the attack.

In the aftermath of the attack, a member of the area’s Jewish community told the Chronicle that Reis was “ok but traumatized.”

The incident was first investigated by police as a potential hate crime but later Gowers was committed to a psychiatric hospital and found to be mentally ill.

Gower’s lawyer Jose Grayson said in a statement outside the courtroom: “Although people at the time thought it was an anti-Semitic attack, it has been accepted by the Crown it was not racially motivated.”

Grayson told the court that his client is still in the psychiatric hospital and will be there for the time being.

The judge in the case called the incident “about as serious as a common assault allegation can be,” adding that all options will be examined for sentencing.

Gowers admitted to assaulting Reis. He will appear in court on October 1 to be sentenced.