Muslims Jailed for Brutal Attack on Religious Teacher in London
LONDON – Four Muslim men have been jailed in London, England, today after being convicted of a horrific attack on a religious education teacher.
The Muslim gang attacked Gary Smith, 38, on July 12 last year because they did not like him teaching religious education to Muslim girls at his school.
The assault took place as Smith walked to Central Foundation Girls’ School in east London where he worked. The four Muslims used a metal bar and a brick to beat Smith unconscious and left him on the side of the road bleeding heavily. He did not regain consciousness until two days later.
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Smith suffered numerous injuries; severe bruising, a permanent 5-inch scar across his face, and the entire facial part of his skull was broken.
Judge John Hand QC told the court that he believed all four men remained a danger to the public because of their extreme religious belief. According to the Daily Mail Judge Hand said to them: “Your belief is that you carried out a duty to your God and you did so with no mercy.
“If you think that people around you in society present an insult or threat to God then you will not hesitate in attacking again in the way that you have acted.”
It seems as though the Muslim men were offended because the religious education classes contained some classes on Islam. One of the attackers whose niece attended the school had said, “He's mocking us and he's putting thoughts in people's minds. How can somebody take a job to teach Islam when he's not even a Muslim himself?”
The attacker also was recorded saying that he was carrying out the attack for Allah and so didn’t care whether that meant he would be jailed.
Smith, an experienced and well-respected religious education teacher, was following England’s set national curriculum, which means he must teach pupils the basic beliefs of the six main world religions.
Three of the four attackers were given sentences of a minimum of five years, and the fourth, a sentence of four years.
