A 44-year old man from Gilligham has been given a prison term after smearing bacon rashers on a mosque.
Marcus Edwards, 44, recorded himself smearing bacon rashers on a mosque wall in Gillingham, on 11th August. Following this, he then went online to boast that he would get away with it and vowed to ‘trash a mosque every day’.
His actions were seen by local police officers and he was arrested.
At his first appearance at the Magistrates’ court, Edwards was told his offence was in the “same bracket as the current civil unrest” and it was “hard to see how his action could be more distressing to the Muslim community”.
Edwards was sentenced to six months imprisonment at Maidstone Crown Court, after the Crown Prosecution Service successfully applied for an uplifted sentence due to the hate crime element of his offending.
Chief Crown Prosecutor, Kris Venkatasami from Crown Prosecution Service South East, said “This was an abhorrent attack on a mosque and exceptionally distressing to our local Muslim community at a time when they are already feeling vulnerable because of recent events elsewhere in the country. Edwards arrogantly thought he would escape justice and tauntingly suggested he would ‘get away’ with targeting a place of worship. Within five days, he has been identified, convicted and faced the full force of the law”.
