Southport man sentenced following racially and religiously aggravated offence against Jewish man in pub
A Southport man has been sentenced after he was found guilty of carrying out a racially and religiously aggravated offence against a Jewish man in pub last year.
During Tuesday’s proceedings, Liverpool Crown Court heard that on 21st September, Edward Ossian, 68, hurled antisemitic abuse at a Jewish man in Bottle Bar on Lord Street.
In a victim impact statement read out for the court, the victim said: “I feel very anxious about wearing my kippah outside because the stress of antisemitism and all that comes with being openly Jewish today. I feel the actions of that day will impact me for some considerable time.
“I should be able to go out without the stress of being verbally berated. The comments said to me shook me to my core. The incident has impacted on my daily life. I have changed my routines to avoid any further confrontation. It has impacted on my family life and where I feel safe to go.”
Mr Ossian, who pleaded guilty to the offence last year, was handed a twelve-week custodial sentence, suspended for one year, as well as twenty days of Rehabilitation Activity Requirement. He was also told to pay a £300 victim surcharge, given a three-year restraining order and must wear an electronic tag for eight weeks, with a curfew from 19:00 to 07:00.
Detective Inspector Matthew Kerr said: “Hate crime in all its forms simply will not be tolerated and I hope this result sends a clear message that anyone found to commit hate crime offences anywhere on Merseyside will be brought to justice. [Mr] Ossian will now have a criminal record and the consequences of this in the future could prove to be significant.
“We take all reports of hate crime extremely seriously and I would like to take this opportunity to reassure people that we have specially trained officers who investigate cases with a view to robust action being taken against offenders.”
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.
Image credit: Merseyside Police
