Man charged after antisemitic hate crime incident on bus in north London
The Crown Prosecution Service has authorised one charge of religiously aggravated harassment and one charge of using threatening words or behaviour to cause harassment in connection to an incident on a bus in North London on Thursday, 7 May.
James Agius, 50, appeared at Thames Magistrates’ Court for a first hearing this afternoon, Friday, 8 May, and will next appear at Stratford Magistrates’ Court on 15 June 2026 for trial.
Lisa Ramsarran, Chief Crown Prosecutor, said: “The Crown Prosecution Service has decided to charge James Agius, 50, with religiously aggravated harassment and using threatening words or behaviour to cause harassment in connection with an incident where he was allegedly racially abusive towards members of the Orthodox Jewish community on a bus going through Stamford Hill on Thursday, 7 May.
“Our team of out-of-hours prosecutors from CPS Direct worked to establish that there is sufficient evidence to bring charges and it is in the public interest to pursue criminal proceedings.
“We have worked closely with the Metropolitan Police as it has carried out its investigation.
“We remind all concerned that proceedings against the defendant are active and that he has the right to a fair trial.
“It is vital that there should be no reporting, commentary or sharing of information online which could in anyway prejudice these proceedings.”
Notes to editors
• James Agius [DOB: 20.03.1976] is from Hackney, London.
He has been charged with:
• Intentional harassment s.4a
• Religiously aggravated s.4a intentional harassment
• Two further charges of religiously aggravated fear of violence and fear of violence were added at Thames Magistrates’ Court on Friday, 8 May 2026.
• The function of the CPS is not to decide whether a person is guilty of a criminal offence, but to make fair, independent and objective assessments about whether it is appropriate to present charges for a criminal court to consider.
• The CPS assessment of any case is not in any sense a finding of, or implication of, any guilt or criminal conduct. It is not a finding of fact, which can only be made by a court, but rather an assessment of what it might be possible to prove to a court, in accordance with the Code for Crown Prosecutors.