Bristol court finds man guilty of urinating into mosque letterbox

A man was convicted of urinating through a mosque letterbox while he was drunk.

Valentino Begent, 42, was walking home when he stopped outside the Al-Baseera Mosque, in Wade Street.

Then, in what Bristol Magistrate's Court heard was a religiously aggravated act, he urinated through the mosque's letterbox. After hearing a charge of unlawful damage, the court's chairwoman, Karen Shaw, sentenced him to an eight-week curfew.

Begent, formerly of Redwood Lodge in Wade Street, St Judes, was ordered to be electronically tagged and to stay indoors at an address in St Philips between 8pm and 8am.

Handing down the sentence, Mrs Shaw said: "The action that you took was desecration of a sacred place and has caused upset in the local community."

Begent was also ordered to pay £200 costs for the cleaning of the mosque and £60 to court.