CPS reinstates racially/religiously aggravated element of assault charges against Abdullah Qureshi in face of communal outrage, after CAA revealed antisemitic element had been dropped
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has reinstated the racially/religiously aggravated element of the assault charges against Abdullah Qureshi, after Campaign Against Antisemitism revealed earlier this month that the antisemitic element had been dropped and we and other communal organisations made representations to the CPS.
On 7th April, Abdullah Qureshi, 28, from Dewsbury in West Yorkshire, pleaded guilty at Thames Magistrates’ Court to one count of assault by beating and one count of grievous bodily harm with intent. The charges related to a series of assaults on 18th August in Stamford Hill in which five religious Jews in the North London neighbourhood were violently attacked.
In one incident at 18:41, 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.”
However, we reported that the CPS had dropped the religiously/racially-aggravated element of the charges, despite Mr Quershi having attacked only visibly Jewish people — including a child and a 64-year-old man — that day in one of Britain’s most diverse neighbourhoods. So the charges to which he pleaded guilty did not include the antisemitic aggravating element.
Following this revelation, Stamford Hill Shomrim, the Jewish volunteer neighbourhood watch patrol, continued to support the victims and made representations to the CPS, as did we, the CST and other Jewish and local groups.
Today, the CPS has reinstated the religiously/racially-aggravated element of all of the charges in the face of unified communal outrage.
Stephen Silverman, Director of Investigations and Enforcement at Campaign Against Antisemitism, said: “In a violent spree, Abdullah Qureshi attacked innocent Jews as he came across them in the street, from a young child to an elderly man. We applaud the Shomrim for reporting these incidents and the police for identifying the perpetrator. We welcome the CPS’s decision to reinstate the aggravating element to the charges, but it must be said that it is disappointing that it took sustained outrage from the Jewish community to bring this about. Polling shows that a majority of British Jews do not believe that the CPS does enough to protect them. The CPS must recognise that its choices have a serious impact on the Jewish community and it must strive to do better.”
Campaign Against Antisemitism’s analysis of Home Office statistics shows that an average of over three hate crimes are directed at Jews every single day in England and Wales, with Jews almost four times more likely to be targets of hate crimes than any other faith group.
