A Leeds man who desecrated copies of the Quran in a hospital prayer room and later wrote antisemitic graffiti while in police custody has been convicted of hate crimes following a prosecution by the Crown Prosecution Service.
Ibrahim Iqbal, 36, of Leeds, was found guilty at Leeds Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday 4 February of two counts of religiously aggravated criminal damage and a further count of criminal damage.
The court heard that in November last year, Iqbal targeted the multi-faith prayer room at St James’s Hospital in Leeds. He smashed a framed Islamic scripture before tearing pages from several copies of the Quran, setting them alight, and stuffing them into a sink and toilet, causing damage.
Two weeks later, on 9 December, Iqbal returned to the hospital and deliberately blocked drains using miscellaneous items. The following day, he attempted to re-enter the multi-faith room but found it locked due to the earlier damage. Hospital security detained him and he was later arrested by West Yorkshire Police.
While in police custody, Iqbal requested crayons and used them to write the words “kill Jews” on the wall of his cell.
CCTV footage from St James’s Hospital showed Iqbal walking through the site on 9 December carrying a black bin liner, which was later found at the scene. Hospital staff discovered the damage just seven minutes after CCTV captured him leaving the prayer room.
Prosecutors told the court that the method used during the December incident closely mirrored the earlier offence, helping to secure a conviction for the previous religiously aggravated criminal damage.
Luke Hopkinson, Senior Crown Prosecutor for CPS Yorkshire and Humberside, said the case demonstrated a clear pattern of targeted hate.
“Ibrahim Iqbal carried out a deliberate and sustained campaign of hatred, targeting both Muslim and Jewish communities with his actions,” he said.
“This comes at a time when prosecutors are dealing with the highest number of hate crime cases ever referred by police. Today’s conviction demonstrates the CPS’s commitment to tackling religiously aggravated hate crime and prosecuting those who target others because of their faith.”
