Assailant who beat two Jewish men pleads guilty to assault

A man who was arrested after punching two identifiably Jewish men to the ground in London has today pleaded guilty to assault and possession of a weapon but not guilty to the racially/religiously aggravated charges. 

Malaki Thorpe, of Fairview Road N15, who had been remanded in custody, had previously been determined to be mentally unfit to give his plea. However, he finally appeared in court today for his plea hearing following the January assault in Stamford Hill.

CCTV footage showed a man striking blows to the two Jewish men’s faces and bodies.

The incident took place on Cadoxton Avenue and was reported by Stamford Hill Shomrim, the Jewish volunteer neighbourhood watch patrol.

The victims, Israel Grossman and Erwin Ginsberg, were hospitalised following treatment by Hatzola, a volunteer-run emergency medical service.

Mr Thorpe pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm and possession of a weapon in a public space, and pleaded not guilty to racially or religiously aggravated assault, as part of a court-directed plea in view of his mental condition. 

It is understood that Mr Thorpe will remain in Chase Farm Hospital to receive medical treatment for what his lawyer had previously described as “psychotic illness”.