As CAA seeks witnesses in “F*** the Jews” convoy case, senior CPS official incredulously tells Jewish community CPS “probably tried too hard” in failed attempt to prosecute suspects
A senior official at the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has told the Jewish community that the organisation “probably tried too hard” in its abortive attempt to prosecute the suspects in the high-profile “F*** the Jews” convoy case.
Nick Price, the Head of the CPS Special Crime and Counter Terrorism Division, made the comments yesterday in a presentation to a Jewish charity.
He said: “I would have loved to have prosecuted that case. Unfortunately we could not positively identify the people in the cars. We couldn’t prove to the criminal standard that the people in the cars are the people that were issuing antisemitic comments. That was a pretty fundamental evidential issue and we couldn’t get beyond that. In the end what we can’t do is create evidence. We can only work with the evidence that we get.”
Answering an audience question, he added: “We tried as hard as we could on that case. If I’m honest, we probably tried too hard. Which is why I think that the community was very disappointed that having begun a prosecution, we ended it.”
The CPS announced last November that it was dropping the case against the remaining two suspects, having already withdrawn charges against two suspects earlier in the year. At the time, Campaign Against Antisemitism demanded that the Director of Public Prosecutions, Max Hill KC, “immediately explain this decision or resign”.
As fighting flared in Gaza in May 2021, a convoy waving the flag of the Palestinian Authority set off from the north of England, heading into London. Men in one of the cars shouted from a megaphone: “F*** the Jews…f*** all of them. F*** their mothers, f*** their daughters, and show your support for Palestine.” The speaker went on to call listeners to “Rape their [the Jews’] daughters”. The incident took place a very short distance from a synagogue and was condemned by the Prime Minister and Home Secretary.
The car was part of a convoy of some 200 cars displaying Palestinian Authority flags which started in Bradford, passing through Sheffield and Leicester down the M1 motorway before veering into Hendon and Golders Green, two North London neighbourhoods with large Jewish populations. According to witnesses, convoy participants shouted abuse at Jewish passersby, including: “Free Palestine! Go back to Poland”.
The astounding news of the dropped charges against Mohammed Iftikhar Hanif, 27, and Jawaad Hussain, 24, comes four months after the announcement in July by the CPS that it had dropped charges against Asif Ali, 25, and Adil Mota, 26, who had also until then been suspected of being involved.
It meant that all charges against the four original suspects have been dropped.
Campaign Against Antisemitism is exploring legal options, and has put out a witness appeal. If you saw or heard the convoy directly, please complete this short form.
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.
