Man put ham in shoes of Bristol mosque worshippers
A MAN hung slices of ham on the railings of a Bristol mosque and placed pieces of the meat in the shoes of its worshippers while they prayed.
Jamie Knowlson was spotted running off to a nearby hostel, and when mosque staff followed they had offensive taunts shouted at them.
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Jamie Knowlson
The 30-year-old's behaviour left the community of the Al-Baseera mosque on Wade Street in St Judes "disgusted and saddened".
Muslims are banned from eating any form of pig meat by their religion, which teaches that it can make them impure and unclean.
After he was arrested Knowlson said he had no idea that putting ham in worshippers' shoes would be offensive, saying it was just a prank and a practical joke. But he later admitted to police that he had been fully aware of the implications. Knowlson, of Charlton Road, Kingswood, pleaded guilty to causing racially or religiously aggravated harassment last month at Bristol Magistrates' Court.
Magistrates sent the case to Bristol Crown Court for sentencing, and Knowlson could have faced up to two years behind bars. Instead he was given a six-month suspended sentence, only escaping prison because he returned to the mosque to apologise in person for his actions.
The court heard that at 6.30am on January 9 Knowlson had gone to the Al-Baseera mosque from Redwood House, a homeless hostel opposite.
He was seen putting slices of ham from the hostel on to the railings and into the shoes of worshippers, which were left outside the mosque while they prayed.
CCTV showed him returning to the hostel, and the mosque's caretaker, Abdi Djmaa, followed to complain.As Mr Djmaa returned to the mosque he heard someone shouting "bad meat", "girls" and "the next visit will be harder". Police were called, and as officers and another man removed the ham, they heard laughter coming from the hostel.
Prosecuting at Bristol Crown Court, David Hunter said it had been a "premeditated offence" and that the Muslim community had been specifically targeted.
Defending, Ian Halliday said Knowlson felt deep remorse and regret, and said he had been drunk when he carried out the act. Mr Halliday said: "This was a brutal, misconceived, drunken prank. He returned to the mosque and offered his apologies in person."
Knowlson, 30, sat red-faced and in tears as Her Honour Judge Carol Hagen handed down sentence.
She said: "It is difficult to imagine a more offensive incident. Not only the fixing of meat to railings, but aggravated, in my view, by the fact that members of the mosque were inside praying at the time."
She also ordered him to carry out 150 hours of unpaid work. Knowlson refused to comment after the hearing.
The Al-Baseera mosque opened in 2005, and more than 2,000 Somali Muslims use it every week. Mubarak Mohamud, one of the three imams, or teachers, at the mosque, said: "There wasn't anger, people were more upset and shocked "We don't eat pork and we are banned by our faith from eating it, as it makes us impure when we are going to our prayers. We don't hate the man, we just suppose he doesn't know us."
A second man will go on trial in connection with the incident later this month.
23 Comments
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by RabSimpson
Wednesday, June 08 2011, 4:21PM
“@harryreg_uk: The idea of countries and divisions between people is what causes this.”
by harryreg_uk
Wednesday, June 08 2011, 4:02PM
“stupid thing to do but no where near as bad as burning poppies and flags - this country is so anti-itself, anything done against us is ok, against others is horrendous”
by RabSimpson
Wednesday, June 08 2011, 3:50PM
“Oh look, one idiot trying offend other idiots.
Can't we just put all the idiots in an arena and have them slaughter each other?
The sooner we get rid of these prejudicial elements the better. This includes xenophobia, racism and bigotry, all of which are common tools of both sides of this incident.”
by asweknowit
Wednesday, June 08 2011, 2:25PM
“A highly offensive 'prank' caused by an indiviual wanting to create a reaction knowing what he did was wrong, why else do it?!
A large majority of people are aware that Muslims (aswell as other religions/faiths) do not eat pork and if he didnt know, why was it ham put in the worshippers' shoes aswell as hanging it on the railings and didnt use chicken or beef?! Hmmmm.... I wonder! Pretty sure it wasnt because Tescos or Sainsbury or wherever he bought the ham from only stocked ham!
You would think with it being the 21st Century and Bristol being as cultured as it is ignorant racists would be long gone but clearly people still have the small minded attitudes as they did hundred of years ago!
Comdeians are funny.... This is not! @gashead9 I can't see why someone would want to "flick a bit of ham out your sandal and carry on ASIF nothing has happened" clearly you have the same small minded attitude as the man that did this!
I'm glad hes been ordered to Unpaid Work - Justified sentence for the offensive behaviour caused by one individual!
@gashead9 And as for eating Hallal meat, are you aware why its Hallal meat? Or you just annoyed that you didnt read the sign properly the first time you ate it? I'm pretty sure the employees at Subway are not obliged to tell you what is or isnt put in your Sub. After all, dont you request what meat/fillings you do or do not want in your Sub?
@tim09 your right, its not the end of the world but people wonder why society is the way it is when incidents like this happen!
Peace...”
by gashead9
Monday, June 06 2011, 8:06PM
“i went into a subway near broadmead when i was working near there last year and got my dinner, when i went in the nx morning to get a breakfast sub i was told i could av bacon but it wasnt bacon it was turkey as they only sell halal meat to which i got very annoyed as i wasnt told this the day before, does this mean the owner of subway should b taken through the courts the same as mr knowlson as i was actually allowed to eat the meat which is alot worse than what mr knowlson did, i wouldnt mind a bit of halal meat put in my sandals but eating it is far worse. i reckon it was only a bit of fun and its all been blown out of proportion, i mean its not hard to flick a bit of ham out your sandal and carry on ASIF nothing has happened, wheres the sense of humour gone in the world? oink oink :-)”
by EAhmad12
Monday, June 06 2011, 6:52PM
“Bluemoon, how do you clean your backside when you take shower or bath. I do not suppose you clean yourself.”
by GREASYRON
Monday, June 06 2011, 4:44PM
“I lik salami as wlell.”
by GREASYRON
Monday, June 06 2011, 4:43PM
“I like ham, I would have eaten it but that's just me.”
by Tim09
Monday, June 06 2011, 2:56PM
“a bit of a silly thing to do, but lets face it its not the end of the world is it”
by JohnnoW
Monday, June 06 2011, 2:53PM
“What a prat. Hopefully someone will lock him up and put a cake in front of him. The only pig worth mentioning is Mr Knowlson himself.”