David Moffatt threatened to blow up an ‘Islamic’ bookshop (Photo: Metropolitan Police)
Elham Asaad Buaras
A man who threatened to blow up an ‘Islamic’ bookshop and “kill the Muslims” has been sentenced to only 100 hours of unpaid work on August 3. David Moffatt, 39, made the remarks after entering a shop in Cricklewood Broadway, Brent, north London, on May 23.
Moffatt, of Ivy Road, Brent, north London, was identified and arrested at 11.30pm after calling police to claim he had been threatened. When the allegation was put to him, he said: “I’m not anti-Muslim, I’m Catholic.”
Moffatt pleaded guilty to religiously aggravated harassment at Willesden Magistrates’ Court on July 28. Moffatt was also ordered to pay £620 in costs and a victim surcharge of £85. The police neither arrested him under terrorism act nor did the CPS charge him for terrorism offence.
In a statement to The Muslim News Detective Inspector Madeline Ryder, from Brent’s Community Safety Unit, said: “Hate crime is unacceptable and Brent’s Community Safety Unit is committed to tackling hate crime in all its forms, supporting victims and their families and bringing perpetrators like Moffatt to justice.”
