Man who wrote ‘kill Jews’ inside cell after stuffing Qurans down a toilet convicted of hate crimes

A man who threw several copies of the Quran down a toilet in a hospital prayer room and later wrote antisemitic graffiti in his police cell has been convicted following a successful CPS prosecution.

Ibhraim Iqbal, 36 and of Leeds, was found guilty of two counts of religiously aggravated criminal damage and one further count of criminal damage at Leeds District Magistrates’ Court today (4 February).

Iqbal targeted a multi-faith room at St James’s Hospital in Leeds last November, smashing a framed Islamic scripture before defacing multiple Qurans, tearing out pages, setting them alight, and using them to block the sink and toilet.

He returned to the hospital two weeks later, on the 9 December, and deliberately stuffed miscellaneous items down the drains to cause a blockage. The following day, he attempted to access the multi-faith room again but found it locked due to the earlier damage. He was detained by hospital security and subsequently arrested by West Yorkshire Police.

Whilst in custody, Iqbal requested crayons and used them to write the words "kill Jews" on his cell wall.

CCTV footage of Iqbal in St James’s Hospital on the 9 December showed him walking around carrying a black bin liner which was later found at the scene of the offence. Hospital staff also found the criminal damage just seven minutes after CCTV captured Iqbal leaving the room.

Prosecutors effectively demonstrated that the modus operandi for the offence that had taken place the fortnight prior was almost identical, to secure his conviction for the previous racially aggravated offence.

Luke Hopkinson, Senior Crown Prosecutor for CPS Yorkshire and Humberside, said:

“Ibhraim Iqbal carried out a deliberate and sustained campaign of hatred, targeting both Muslim and Jewish communities with his actions.

“This comes at a time where our prosecutors are working on the highest ever number of hate crime cases referred to us by police.

"I hope today’s conviction demonstrates the CPS's commitment to tackling religiously aggravated hate crime, and reiterate how we will always seek to prosecute those who target others because of their faith where their conduct strays into criminality."