Report by
Nabeela Ali
Freelance journalist
Newcastle upon Tyne.
A lone right-wing extremist and Islamophobe threatened to bomb Heaton Mosque and behead the
Imam of Heaton Mosque, Muslims present, and children. He initially pushed and shoved Muslims
within the Mosque grounds and the Imam was warned of the danger on the grounds. The man
urinated all over the mosque doors and the entrance hall to the mosque. He then ran his finger
across a 5-year-old child’s throat and said,” I am going to kill you as I am a boxer and an expert MMA
fighter” on Monday 6 th of February between 6.20-6.50PM. The local media reported the incident as
an Islamophobic attack, and no information on the incident was disclosed in the local news.
The right-wing extremist wanted to enter to the Mosque after children had finished attending the
Quran class in the community centre of the Mosque, where parents were gathered to collect their
children. His objective was to reach to the Imam and when he was challenged he started banging the
doors and he became furious, and started to assault the parents by pushing and shoving and
screaming countless profanities. When one of the parents went to inform the Imam that there was
danger, he urinated all over the mosque’s doors and entrance hall to the mosque. Upon entering the
Mosque, and creating enough disturbance that a parent had to leave their child’s side to inform the
Imam, he put his face up to that child’s face and run his finger across his throat and said, “I'm going
to kill you f****** Muslim b****** “
As time passed, his actions were growing increasingly worse, for example he punched a passer-by for
merely asking what he was doing and chased the passer-by down the Rothbury Terrace, and he
threatened young people along with their parents and shouted “I have been a boxer my whole life
and do MMA”(Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact combat sport that allows a wide variety of
fighting techniques and skills from a mixture of other combat sports to be used in competition.)” and
I will kill you f***** Muslim b*****”.
The right-wing extremist yelled, “I will bomb and behead all the Muslims living here as it is my
country”.
When the right-wing extremist was in the street at that time many of the elderly mosque goers were
walking up to the mosque to offer their late prayer Isha. He harassed them and physically abused
them. He terrorised five older people aged from 60-80 years old. He also terrorised a family with a 3-
year-old child, who were returning home after attending Quran classes and prayer.
Muslims were terrified as he was threatening and shouting insanely, and he wanted to meet the
Imam.
The right-wing Christian extremist shouted about Jesus and said “You consider Jesus as a prophet
and not as God and we should take him as our lord and saviour, and because you don’t, I will bomb
the mosque and kill the Imam and all the f**** b***** Muslims one day”.
The right-wing extremist also expressed his anger about Arab social media pages which he
complained had been posting far right-wing content for many years and he said that his “hate for
Muslims is open for all to see”.
He threatened the worshippers, parents and children in the mosque and said, “I have hated Muslims
for many years and now I have taken step one, next I’ll end up killing one of these children, or the
Imam or in fact blowing up worshippers one day as they pray”.
He stayed near the Mosque from 6:20 to 6:50pm and then he was arrested on location.
This incident has left the Muslim community shaken to its core as for many it was reminiscent of the
Christchurch shooting in New Zealand. After this incident, a father of two young Muslims who were
direct victims of the incident and witnessed all the terror posted a message on social media to rally
people against Islamophobia and for the safety of Muslim communities living in Newcastle and
around Europe.
Local police are supporting the victims and have offered their help and after this incident the local
Muslim and non-Muslim communities stood together in solidarity with the victims of the Heaton
Mosque incident. As a whole, the communities are deeply saddened in these sombre times, and
although thankfully there were no lives lost, the damage done is near irreversible for some of the
child victims, they have the full support of Newcastle behind them.
After this incident Islamic centres and mosques in the North East expressed their support and
solidarity with the Heaton Mosque as shown below, and although many people have taken part in
this report, they have asked to remain anonymous:
“We condemn in the strongest possible terms the Islamophobic incident that took place at Heaton
Mosque, Newcastle upon Tyne, on the evening of Monday 6th February 2023. The assault has left
our community shaken and the shockwaves have spread throughout the Northeast of England.
We are deeply disturbed that this convicted criminal associated with far-right groups has been
released back into the same community on bail. This has left people feeling upset, angry, and
vulnerable. The rhetoric employed by this right-wing extremist is a stark reminder of the 2019
Christchurch attack in New Zealand.
To add insult to injury, the same vulnerable community was visited by those entrusted to protect
them and were told instead to silence their cries and not draw further attention to the matter
through social activism and the media.
It is particularly concerning given the rise in xenophobic and Islamophobic hate crime in the region.
A report published by the House of Commons in 2022 highlighted Northumbria Police as having the
6th highest offence rate for religious hate crime in the UK.
We as a community, irrespective of our faith, condemn all types of hatred towards any minority
groups. We call upon everyone to sign this statement in solidarity and hold the relevant authorities
to account about the actions they are taking to address this issue.
We invite Northumbria Police to discuss this further with faith and community leaders from
Newcastle upon Tyne and beyond to ensure the perpetrators of this heinous crime face the
consequences of their actions.”
Supported by:
1-Imam Abdul Muheet
Bahr Academy, Newcastle upon Tyne.
2-Imam Abdullah Kola
Madina Masjid, Newcastle upon Tyne.
3-Imam Ali Asad
Madina Masjid, Newcastle upon Tyne.
4-Imam Umar Shabir
Madina Masjid, Newcastle upon Tyne.
5-Imam Siam Hussain
Madina Masjid, Newcastle upon Tyne.
6-Imam Rafique Rahman
Chaplain, Newcastle University.
Founder, Islamic Hub Northeast (IHNE).
7-Imam Rizwan Hussain
Lecturer, IHNE.
8-Imam Gilman Hussain
Sunderland Jamia Masjid, Sunderland.
9-Imam Anas Molik
Sunderland Jamia Masjid, Sunderland.
10-Imam Ibrahim Qureshi
Madina Masjid, Blyth.
11-Imam Akhlaq Al-amin
Whitley Bay Islamic Centre, Whitley Bay.
12-Imam Syed Saquib Ahmed
Senior Chaplain, CDDFT.
Co-founder, Darlington Islamic Academy.
13-Imam Syed Salah Ahmed
Co-founder, Darlington Islamic Academy.
14-Ali Mehmood
Co-founder of AMAN-project, Newcastle upon Tyne.