Five men convicted of a serious assault at a place of worship in St Albans were imprisoned for more than 16 years at St Albans Crown Court yesterday.
The court heard that five men lured a 45-year-old man with baiting phone calls and social media messages to the Jamie Mosque on Hatfield Road on June 4, 2020. They then seriously assaulted him and lied to cover their tracks. They were unanimously found guilty and convicted on December 12 last year, following a seven-week trial.
Mohammed Mortuza, 50, of Alexander Road, London Colney, was sentenced to four years and nine months imprisonment – four years for grievous bodily harm (GBH) with intent, and nine months, to run consecutively, for perverting the course of justice, to which he had previously pleaded guilty .
The court heard that he had lied to police about CCTV, which had been removed before police could access it and tried to blame a fellow committee member for sending the luring text message.
Mohammed Anam, 49, of Holyrood Crescent, St Albans, was sentenced to four-and-a-half years – three years for GBH with intent, and a year for perverting the course of justice. Anam removed the CCTV, which would have captured the assault, and then lied to police stating the CCTV had been stolen. The CCTV was never recovered.
Ali Choudhury, 49, of Wilshire Avenue, St Albans was sentenced to three years imprisonment for GBH with intent.
Mohammed Choudhury, 67, of Cell Barnes Lane, St Albans, was sentenced to three years imprisonment – two years for GBH with intent and 12 months for perverting the course of justice.
Faisal Ahmed, 31, of Gorham Drive, from St Albans, was found guilty of inflicting GBH and he was handed a 12-month prison sentence, suspended for 18 months. He must also undertake 150 hours of unpaid work and pay £1,000 compensation to the victim.
A five-year restraining order was also imposed on the five men.
Detective Constable Robert Davies, from the St Albans Local Crime Unit, said: “This was a serious assault which left a man with three broken ribs and resulted in him being hospitalised for over two weeks. He has recovered from his physical injuries but remains traumatised by what happened.”
There have been ongoing disputes at the mosque over a number of years, with police regularly attending.
DC Davies said: “In June 2020, tensions escalated when these five men made a calculated decision to harm this man. They ganged up on him, physically forcing him into the mosque entrance away from public eyes, or so they thought, and violently and collectively beat him, hitting him with such force that they broke three of his ribs.
“This has been a complex two-and-a-half year investigation by the St Albans Local Crime Unit, supported hugely by the Safer Neighbourhood Teams, and Response Teams. We are pleased that these men have now been sentenced for their crimes.”
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