Abdullah Qureshi given hospital order after court finds he is “suffering from a mental disorder”
Abdullah Qureshi has been given a hospital order after the court found him to be “suffering from a mental disorder”.
On 7th April, Mr Qureshi, 28, from Dewsbury in West Yorkshire, pleaded guilty at Thames Magistrates’ Court to two counts of assault by beating and one count of grievous bodily harm with intent. The charges related to a series of assaults on 18th August 2021 in Stamford Hill in which five religious Jews in the North London neighbourhood were violently attacked.
In one incident at 18:41 on the day of the attacks, an Orthodox Jewish man was struck in the face with what appeared to be a bottle. In another at 19:10, a child was slapped on the back of the head, and in yet another at 20:30, a 64-year-old victim was struck and left unconscious on the ground, suffering facial injuries and a broken ankle. Two further incidents were also alleged.
The incidents received significant media attention at the time, and the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, condemned “this appalling attack,” adding: “Let me be clear, racist abuse and hate crime, including antisemitism, have absolutely no place in our city.”
Campaign Against Antisemitism then revealed that the CPS had dropped the racially/religiously aggravated element of those charges as part of a plea deal with Mr Qureshi. After we, Shomrim, CST and other communal organisations made representations to the CPS, it agreed to reinstate the aggravated elements, but Mr 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 Mr Qureshi, and, at a further hearing at Thames Magistrates’ Court, he pleaded not guilty. In November, Mr Qureshi was found guilty of the reinstated racially/religiously aggravated charges that the CPS initially dropped, before intervention by Campaign Against Antisemitism and other groups.
In December, Mr Qureshi was expected to be sentenced. However, this was halted following concerns surrounding his mental health. The court heard that Mr Qureshi suffered from anxiety and depression and that he had been hearing “internal voices” which ordered him to carry out the attacks.
Dr Bala Krishna, a specialist in forensic medicine, informed the court that, at the time of her assessment of Mr Qureshi, it was her opinion that he was “currently presenting psychotic symptoms,” namely “paranoia and auditory hallucinations, depressive symptoms, and anxiety,” adding that he needs “further assessment to be fully diagnosed”.
Dr Krishna further informed the court that Mr Qureshi revealed to her that he was under the influence of alcohol, cocaine, and psilocybin mushrooms at the time of the assaults.
Today, His Honour Judge Noel Lucas QC ordered an interim hospital order under Section 38 of the Mental Health Act 1983. 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.
Handing down the hospital order, HHJ Lucas QC told the court: “I am satisfied Mr Qureshi is suffering from a mental disorder.”
Campaign Against Antisemitism’s analysis of Home Office statistics shows that an average of over five hate crimes are directed at Jews every single day in England and Wales, with Jews more than five times likelier to be targets of hate crimes than any other faith group.
