A MUSLIM who daubed graffiti glorifying Islamic terrorism over a war memorial has walked free from court despite showing no remorse.
Veterans and MPs reacted with fury after Tohseef Shah, 21, was freed having shown no contrition for painting vile slogans on the memorial to Britain’s war dead.
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Using spray paint, Shah desecrated the monument to generations of heroes with “Islam will dominate the world – Osama is on his way” and “Kill Gordon Brown”. But Crown Prosecution lawyers decided not to pursue the most serious charges for racially or religiously motivated crimes.
Instead, Shah was prosecuted on the minor charge of criminal damage and ordered to pay a mere £85 costs and £500 compensation. Roy Whenman, vice-chairman of the local Royal British Legion branch, described the offence as diabolical.
“There’s nothing worse in my eyes than discrediting a war memorial,” he said. “It dishonours those who have given their lives for our country. What I would say to them is there are other ways of expressing your anger about certain issues.”
Dennis Fletcher, chairman of East Staffordshire Racial Equality Council, said: “Graffiti of any type is terrible but when it includes what appears to be racist material it has to be considered utterly unacceptable.”
Tory MP Patrick Mercer, a former Army colonel, said now was the time to bring in strict laws and punishments for yobs who insult our war heroes.
Mr Mercer, MP for Newark and Retford, said: “It strikes me that this is a gross disrespect of our war dead. It really does not help the deeply law-abiding and respectful Muslim community and I hope the next Conservative government will legislate against this sort of thing and introduce serious punishments.”
Magistrates in Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, heard on Thursday that Shah and a friend defaced the memorial, owned by East Staffordshire council, on December 10 last year. The comments were sprayed across the plinth outside Burton College.
A street cleaner reported the incident and photographed the damage and pictures of the offensive comments were shown in court.
CCTV footage showed two figures spraying the slogans on the memorial. Although they could not be clearly identified, the footage showed one of the vandals discarding the spray can.
Shah, who has no previous convictions, was later identified from DNA on the can and admitted his actions.
Andrew Bodger, prosecuting, said information about Shah and photos of the graffiti were sent to Crown Prosecution Service headquarters in London for a review by senior lawyers.
They decided there was insufficient evidence that the crime was racially or religiously motivated, which could have led to more serious charges and a harsher sentence.
Mr Bodger said: “Shah wouldn’t give an explanation as to why he had done it and has shown no remorse for this very sensitive matter.
“The words were cleaned off without difficulty at a cost of £500. The CPS specialist unit was sent the pictures, as well as his mobile phone records, to see if there was a racially or religiously motivated connotation.
“It was decided there was not enough evidence to prove this, and they decided it was politically motivated. It has caused great offence to the community.” Shah admitted criminal damage and was given a two-year conditional discharge.
Mumtaz Chaudry, defending, dismissed any claims that Shah, of Horninglow, Burton, held extremist views.
He said: “This is nothing to do with his religious beliefs, his family’s beliefs or his cultural beliefs. He is just an ordinary guy. He is remorseful, but at the time of his police interview he was simply answering questions and didn’t realise that was the right time to show remorse.
“He has no extremist views. His action was uncalled for, but we make mistakes. It was a stupid mistake and he is determined not to repeat it.”
A CPS spokesman last night defended the decision not to bring a more serious charge.
He said: “The conclusion in this case was that there was insufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect of a conviction.
'While it was appreciated that what was sprayed on the memorial may have been perceived by some to be part of a racial or religious incident, no racial or religious group can be shown to have been targeted.”
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