, ,

Man convicted for shouting antisemitic abuse at volunteers from Shomrim helping burglary victim

A man has been convicted of racially aggravated intentional harassment, alarm or distress after shouting antisemitic abuse at members of Shomrim, London’s Jewish neighbourhood watch patrol.

The incident took place on 5th November 2015 when volunteers from Shomrim were called to a burglary. Whilst they assisted the Muslim victim, Mark Zahra saw the scene and assumed that Shomrim were reporting the Muslim victim to the police and shouted at Shomrim’s volunteers: “F***ing Jewish scum. Why do you keep calling them [the police], because he’s Muslim?”

Last Thursday, following testimony by Shomrim’s volunteers, Mark Zahra was convicted at Wood Green Crown Court of racially aggravated intentional harassment alarm or distress under section 4A of the Public Order Act (see the relevant part of our guide to the Law of Antisemitism).

The sentence was a 12-month Community Order and a curfew for 4 months.

Cases of antisemitism are rarely prosecuted and Shomrim’s swift action and perseverance is to be applauded. In 2015, the Crown Prosecution Service prosecuted 15,442 cases of hate crime, but Campaign Against Antisemitism, Shomrim and CST are aware of only twelve prosecutions for antisemitic hate crime, despite the 26% rise in antisemitic hate crime during 2015, which made it the worst year on record.

     

We are seeking to recruit a General Counsel a Video and Content Creator to join our London office

Join the fight

Subscribe
Volunteer
Donate

Campaign Against Antisemitism is a volunteer-led charity dedicated to exposing and countering antisemitism through education and zero-tolerance enforcement of the law. Everything that we do is done by people who volunteer their time, using donations contributed by members of the public. Join the fight against antisemitism by subscribing to our updates, volunteering, or donating.

Justice, justice, you shall pursue - צדק צדק תרדף
© Copyright - Campaign Against Antisemitism, all rights reserved. Our logo is a registered trademark.
Campaign Against Antisemitism is a charitable incorporated organisation registered with the Charity Commission (number 1163790).
Use of our website is subject to our terms. Trees are planted every year to keep our work carbon neutral.
CAA response to Jewish Labour Movement’s decision to invite Shami Chakrabarti...London gang tells schoolboy to remove skullcap or face violence