A man has been jailed after attacking a Muslim woman with a packet of bacon.
Alex Chivers, 36, targeted the Muslim teenager who was walking with her mother in Hertford Road, Enfield on June 8, calling her “Isil scum” and shouting “you deserve this” as he hit her in the face with an open packet of bacon.
Chivers, of Bryanstone Road, Waltham Cross, was sentenced to 26 weeks’ imprisonment after admitting religiously/racially aggravated assault and 12 weeks’ imprisonment for a public order offence at Highbury Corner Magistrates’ Court.
Ikram Ali described how she was attacked as she was on her way to a polling station with her mum and her sister when she felt something on her face.
She said: “I was unable to see and breathe for a while and at this point I couldn’t understand why. I was being suffocated. I thought I was dead. I didn’t know what hit me.
“It was only when the bacon peeled off my face and it fell to the ground, and the male behind me started shouting ‘bacon, bacon, it’s bacon’ that I started to grasp what was happening to me.”
She added: “Islamophobia is real, and it is out there and because of the way Muslim women choose to dress, we’re unfortunately a target. However, I still choose to believe there’s more good out there than bad, and that my hijab will not hinder me in my life.”
DC James Payne, from Enfield Community Safety Unit, said: “This was a truly shocking incident.
“The victim was out with her mother and getting on with her day when Chivers abused her and then set upon her with something he knew would both upset and offend her.”
He said: “We know other people were present during this attack, including an associate of Chivers’ who filmed the incident. Enquiries are ongoing to trace these people and if you have any information that may assist in identifying them please contact the Community Safety Unit at Enfield via 101.
“The Community Safety Unit here in Enfield would encourage all victims of hate crime to contact police so that the culprits can be identified and brought to justice.”-Yahoo News
No comments:
Post a Comment