Early hours attacks included targetting building used by children.
The jailed three racists (Image: -)
A racist trio who dumped severed pig’s heads outside buildings used by people of Muslim faith have been jailed. The series of Islamophobic hate crimes, which included sprawling graffiti on walls that read “no mosques”, took place in Rainham, east London, in July last year. Harvey Wells, 21, Josh Campbell, 34, and James Desbois, 30, have now been jailed for more than seven years in total, after they “deliberately and strategically” targeted buildings which included those used by children.
Wells left the animal remains outside the Rainham Village Children’s Centre, the Royal Youth Community Centre and Harris Academy. He also sprayed graffiti on the walls of the premises on July 25 last year, Snaresbrook Crown Court was told.
The Rainham Village Children’s Centre had been running Islamic classes, while the Royal Youth Community and Harris Academy centre had been used for community prayers.
Supt Simon Hutchison confirmed at the time the incidents were being “treated as Islamophobic hate crimes”.
Louise Oakley, prosecuting, said that in a “message of religious hostility”, raw pigs heads were “deliberately and strategically placed” alongside the graffiti.
She added: “Unlawful graffiti was spray-painted on concrete surfaces outside three separate educational facilities or places of worship in the Romford area.
“The Crown’s case is that the writing was deliberate and motivated by religious hostility.”
Wells, of Hutton, Essex, and Desbois, of Herongate, Essex, both admitted three counts of religiously aggravated damage to property.
Campbell, of Hutton, Essex, denied the charges but was convicted of three counts of religiously aggravated damage to property.
Wells and Campbell were both jailed for 32 months, while Desbois was jailed for 25 months.
Wells was seen on CCTV trying to hide his face as he got out of the car and took the pigs heads out of black bin liners before placing them outside the buildings.
Helen Harrow, the headmistress of the Rainham Village Primary School, which is attached to the children’s centre, said in an impact statement: “The school walkway was cleaned 23 times, but the graffiti still remains. It is a reminder of what happened.
“Nearly half of the children are Muslim, and I have Muslim staff. I am now constantly worried about going to school and seeing more graffiti on the windows.”
Sentencing the three men, Judge Gerard Pounder said: “These offences took place in the early hours of 25 July last year.
“The area that was targeted was an area called Rainham in the London borough of Havering. Typical of many areas in London, it is made up of diverse communities which strive hard to accommodate cultural differences.
“People work together to promote harmony and mutual respect.
“On that day the three of you decided to embark upon a series of three acts specifically intended to disrupt that harmony.
“I don’t know why you did it. There must have been substantial planning. These premises were not identifiable as mosques. There were no minarets or anything like that.
“The three pigs heads would have to been sourced, and would have to have been collected.
“You must have known that the next day people would attend the premises for prayers.
He added: “This is a particularly nasty thing to do in another community. It is obvious that your offending was designed to cause serious distress.”
