Threats made to mosque on phone
Man who made calls gets 10-week suspended sentence and 200 hours of unpaid work
Friday, 14th March — By Daisy Clague
A MAN has been sentenced for making threatening phone calls to Finsbury Park Mosque.
A member of the mosque reported receiving several calls on January 21 that were religiously abusive, violent and threatening.
Lee Harper, 47, was arrested at his house on January 24 and charged with two counts of sending offensive and indecent messages and one count of sending threatening death or serious harm communications.
He was sentenced to a 10-week suspended sentence and 200 hours of unpaid work at Highbury Corner Magistrates’ Court on Monday. He was also given a restraining order not to visit or contact Finsbury Park Mosque for five years.
Detective Superintendent Marco Bardetti, who led the investigation, said: “This demonstrates our continued determination to protect communities across London from religiously motivated hate crime. Tackling it is at the centre of our efforts to make all Londoners feel safe. I encourage our faith communities and members of the public to report hate crime to the police so we can act quickly and bring offenders to justice.”
