Fire islamske ekstremister er dømt til en samlet fengselsstraff på minimum 19 år for den planlagte mishandlingen av den britiske religionslæreren Gary Smith.

De to hovedmennene, 26 år gamle Akmol Hussain og Azad Hussein, ble dømt til fengsel på ubestemt tid, med en minimumssoning på fem år hver på grunn av gjentagelsesfaren.

– Hvis dere mener at mennesker i samfunnet rund dere representerer en fornærmelse eller trussel mot gud, vil dere ikke nøle med å angripe igjen, sa dommer John Hand under domsavsigelsen, som ble mottatt med gråt av de fire mennenes burkakledde mødre og koner i rettssalen.

Jihadi fanatics thought they had got away with it but were caught following suspicions of terrorist plot

He was an ‘able, enthusiastic and popular’ religious education teacher who loved his job at an inner-city girls’ school.

But when a gang of Islamic extremists decided his lessons for Muslim girls were ‘mocking Islam’, they unleashed a sickening attack on Gary Smith, slashing his face and battering him with such force that his own mother didn’t even recognise him.

Akmol Hussain, 26, Sheikh Rashid, 27, Azad Hussein, 26, and Simon Alam, 19, ambushed the 38-year-old as he walked to work because they did not approve of a non-Muslim teacher giving lessons on religion to Hussain’s niece.

In a ten-minute attack, the fundamentalist mob smashed him over the head with a concrete block and iron rod and slashed his face from the corner of his mouth to his right ear with a Stanley knife. They punched and kicked him in the stomach, head and face, before driving away ‘praising Allah’ as they left their victim covered in blood and unconscious with a fractured skull and shattered jaw.

Den fundamentalistiske gjengen skal ha trodd at de hadde sluppet unna ugjerningen, men pga mistanker om et terrorplot hadde den britiske sikkerhetstjenesten, som anså gjengen som en trussel mot nasjonens sikkerhet, plantet avlyttingsutstyr i Akmol Hussains bil. De fire ble således arrestert og opptaket ble avspilt i retten:

MI5 considered the gang such a threat to national security that they asked the Home Secretary for permission to plant a covert recording device in Hussain’s car. But it wasn’t until detectives listened to the tapes after the assault in July last year that they were arrested.

Attackers consumed by hatred

In a recording played to the court, Hussain was heard plotting the attack outside Central Foundation Girls’ School in Bow, East London, where Mr Smith worked as head of religious education.

Hussein said: ‘He’s mocking Islam and he’s putting doubts in people’s minds. How can somebody take a job to teach Islam when they’re not even a Muslim themselves?’ Just moments before the gang struck at 8am on July 12 last year, Hussain told the others as they donned gloves and black bandanas: ‘Does everyone remember the drill? One time, bang, bang, bang, bang.

The recording then fell silent for ten minutes while the attack took place. The gang later fled in a car boasting of their success. Hussain could be heard saying: ‘Praise to Allah. I turned and hit him on the face with the rod and he went flying and fell on his stomach.’

Gary Smith, som var bevisstløs i to dager etter angrepet, underviste i emner som abort, eutanasi og kvinneroller ved skolen som har en høy andel elever fra Bangladesh. Han måtte opereres for hjerneblødning, skader i benet og nerveskader. I ettertid har han hatt tre operasjoner for å reparere skadene i ansiktet, men lider fortsatt av hukommelsestap og smerter i ryggen og kan ikke lenger arbeide i full stilling.

Mr Smith said: ‘They were all armed with knives. I tried to defend myself and run away but they all jumped me and that’s the last thing I remember.

In the victim impact statement, he added that he has grown a beard in an attempt to conceal the scar. He can only do 75 per cent of his previous working hours and can no longer ride his motorbike or practise martial arts.

The judge said: ‘He enjoyed living in Tower Hamlets where he had lived alone for a number of years, but now is anxious about being alone and has gone back to live with his mother. He lives in constant fear of being attacked again.

‘He forgets about meetings and students’ names, something he never did before the attack.’

The four gang members appeared at court wearing traditional Islamic robes. Their wives and mothers dressed, in full burkas, wept as they were sentenced after pleading guilty to causing grievous bodily harm with intent.

Under rettsaken hevdet de fire tiltalte at de hadde hørt rykter om at Smith skulle ha voldtatt en jente ved skolen, en påstand retten avviste som grunnløs.

Hussain and Hussein were given an indeterminate sentence but told they would serve a minimum of five years. Alam was told he would remain in a Young Offenders’ Institute for at least five years, before being released on a five-year licence.

Rashid was told he would be eligible for release after four years, when he too would be subjected to a five year licence.

A fifth man, Badruzzuha Uddin, 24, a mechanic who admitted helping the thugs by hiding blood-stained clothing, was jailed for two years.

Alam, who was born in Germany, faces deportation.

Daily Mail: Battered and slashed by a Muslim gang just because he taught RE: Four jailed over their ‘dangerous extreme religious beliefs’