Man Jailed in Scotland for Pulling Off Woman's Burka

Six months for racist attacker who pulled off woman's burka

A man has been jailed for more than six months after he grabbed a Muslim woman's burka and pulled it off.

Duncan Gandy grabbed the woman's burka, which covered her from head to toe, as she walked through the Kingdom Shopping Centre in Glenrothes.

Kircaldy Sheriff Court heard the victim, Sheheen Khan, was left "extremely distressed" by the attack.

Gandy, 31, of Provosts Land, Leslie, Glenrothes, previously admitted assaulting Ms Khan by pulling the burka from her face and head on May 9 this year in a racially aggravated attack. He further admitted breaching bail.

Defence lawyer Robert MacDonald claimed Gandy "bore no ill will towards anybody from any particular religious group or faith". However, he said his client accepted his actions would have been "distressing" to his victim.

Sheriff Grant McCulloch told Gandy that jail was the only possible sentence for an "offensive, frightening and demeaning" attack.

He said: "Suddenly, without warning, you pulled the burka from her face. That was clearly offensive, clearly frightening and clearly demeaning for her.

"There is no mitigation that can be put forward other than the fact you were under the influence of illegal substances. That, in my view, is an aggravation not a mitigation and I take the view that only a custodial sentence is appropriate."

He was jailed for 135 days for the racist attack and 60 days for breaching bail.

Gandy's jail term was welcomed by anti-racism campaigners.

Naeem Khalid, co-ordinator of Fairness, Race Awareness and Equality Fife, said Gandy had attacked a vulnerable woman as well as her faith.

He said: "Everyone's religion should be respected.

"People must have the freedom to practice their religion and the freedom to express that.

"The burka is a principle of her faith and, for me, to remove that is attacking her faith and belief.

"She was a vulnerable female and the attack will have other repercussions as it will affect her confidence to walk in public."

Source: The Herald (14.07.2011) (print edition only - does not appear on their website)

Humza Yousaf Gets In On the Airport Agitation

I was surprised that the Herald's two articles yesterday about the supposed Muslim boycott of Glasgow Airport didn't feature our friend Humza Yousaf. But never fear. Humza has managed to get in on the airport action now in today's Herald.

SOME innocent Scottish Muslims have been questioned by terror police more than 15 times, campaigners against racial profiling at airports claimed last night.

Asians, usually men, say they are being stopped almost every time they fly, regardless of where they are going.

The claims were made by a group of prominent young Scottish Muslims, including Nationalist MSP Humza Yousaf and human rights lawyer Aamer Anwar, as they set up a new Independent Advisory Group on the issue.

Mr Yousaf said: “I was astonished that people claimed to have been stopped at Glasgow airports more than 15 times.”

Mr Anwar said: “Thousands upon thousands of innocent Muslims and other minorities are being harassed and targeted by police every time they go to the airport.”

The Herald yesterday reported some campaigners saying that Muslims are continuing their long-standing boycott of Glasgow Airport, the scene of Scotland’s only major Islamic terror incident and home to what they believe are the most jittery terror police.

Law enforcement sources claim they have stopped asking some of the questions Muslims found most offensive, such as whether they knew Osama Bin Laden.

Britain’s overall terror threat was this week reduced to “substantial” –meaning an attack was a strong possibility rather than a probability.

Assistant Chief Constable Colin McCashey, Scotland’s counter-terrorism co-ordinator, stressed the public would be unlikely to notice any difference in the way police behaved.

Source: Herald

If there's one good thing to emerge from this episode, it is the illustration of how ordinary Scots feel about this Muslim agitation. The comments to the Herald article were much more robust and less politically correct than I would have expected. But that's ordinary people. The elite, of course, are a different story.

Racist Attack by Asian in Glasgow Park

POLICE have launched an investigation after a man was shot with an air gun in broad daylight as he walked his dog in a busy park.

Detectives said the 20-year-old was in Queen’s Park in Glasgow on Saturday when a man leapt from the bushes and shot him in the arm and the leg.

The man had to be treated in hospital after the attack, which is thought to have been racially motivated.

Detective Constable Barry Hughes, of Strathclyde Police, said: “This would appear to be a totally unprovoked attack on a young man who was enjoying a walk in the park with his dog.

...

“It is believed that the suspect shouted some verbal abuse at the injured man prior to discharging the weapon and as such police are treating this incident as racially motivated.”

The shooting suspect was described as an Asian man in his 20s.

Source: Herald

Muslims Agitate to Reduce Airport Security, SNP Colludes

Members of the Muslim community have criticised stop and questioning techniques used to help battle terrorism at airports.

Out of an audience of more than 60 people at least 18 said they had been questioned while at an airport.

Around eight people held their hand up when the audience in Glasgow was asked if they had been questioned more than four times.

Members of the audience at the public meeting said "offensive" questions, including whether they prayed five times a day, caused anger and could put people off contacting the police in the future.

Schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act 2000 empowers police to stop and question people at UK ports and airports without any need for "reasonable suspicion" that the person is engaged in terrorism.

The public meeting - held at Pollokshields Burgh Hall in Maxwell Park, Glasgow - was attended by Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill; Faroque Hussain, a Detective Inspector for the Ports Authority; and Chief Superintendent Ruaraidh Nicolson from Strathclyde Police.

A 32-year-old man, who lives in the West End of Glasgow and wished not to be named, said he was questioned for 80 minutes after flying into Glasgow Airport in June 2009. Asked how he felt looking back on the questioning, he said: "I feel angry"

Detective Inspector Hussain, from the counter-terrorism and intelligence section, said since feedback from the community, officers at Troon harbour and Glasgow Airport and Prestwick Airport had undergone cultural awareness training and "enhanced interview" techniques.

But Mr Hussain's claim that officers no longer asked whether people prayed "five times a day" since he took up his post in August were challenged by members of the audience.

Chief Supt Nicolson said work with an independent advisory group, made up of people from the community, had also been listened to in the last year. He said the group along with 20 to 30 others had also visited Glasgow Airport to give feedback on approaches.

Source

Note the security staff have now been forced to undergo 'cultural awareness' training. Also note the presence of Chief Superintendent Ruaraidh Nicolson. This is the guy who, following the arrest in Glasgow earlier this year of the Stockholm suicide bomber's accomplice, was so 'culturally aware' that he said the following:

The most important thing here is the community reassurance, and getting information out to our communities, that this is not focused on any one community. This is an individual. Terrorism is a criminal act and that is how we will be dealing with this.

and implicitly threatened to arrest anyone who implied that terrorism might have a disproportionate link to any particular 'community':

We are working together with our community advisers, our community leaders to make sure that Scotland is a safe place.

If there any repercussions, if there are any raised tensions, if there’s any focus on one community we will be taking a robust stance on that.

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Muslim Population in Glasgow

According to this article in the Evening Times, 3.1% of Glasgow's population was Muslim in the year 2001. This is based on census figures. Of course, it will have significantly increased since then. Figures for Muslim demographics in the UK generally show that they have been expanding at 6-7% per annum for the last four decades. This equates to doubling their numbers every 11-12 years.