1 week ago
39
Two teenage girls, aged 14 and 15, have been sentenced over a series of antisemitic attacks on members of the Jewish community in Stamford Hill, London.
The attacks, which took place in December 2023, occurred over a span of 30 minutes and left one woman unconscious.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) revealed that the girls, who cannot be named due to their age, appeared at Stratford Magistrates' Court on Wednesday, where they were handed an 18-month youth rehabilitation order.
They were also ordered to complete 30 and 45 hours of rehabilitation activity and placed under a three-month curfew with an electronic tag.
The CPS successfully applied for a tougher sentence, stating that most of the attacks were motivated by antisemitism.
Jagjeet Saund, from the CPS, said: “The evidence in this case proved that the two teenagers targeted most of the victims because they were Jewish. Key witness testimony proved that the defendants were mocking them, using antisemitic language, making it plainly obvious that these attacks were hate crimes.
“By highlighting this pattern of offending, we have successfully applied to the court to increase the sentence passed down on the defendants today.”
In the first incident, the girls approached a woman on St Ann’s Road, demanding money. One of them tried to hit the victim but missed, and the woman managed to escape.
Ten minutes later, the pair demanded money from a 12-year-old girl near Holmdale Terrace, but let her go after realising she had none.
Within five minutes, they started harassing a group of four 11-year-old girls, using antisemitic language and asking them for money. The defendants followed one of the girls after they ran away, grabbing her arm and taking her lunch bag.
The final attack occurred half an hour later on Rostrevor Avenue. The girls approached a woman and asked if she had money in her pocket.
When the woman tried to walk away, she was struck in the back. The defendants grabbed her phone, slapped her, pulled her wig off, threw her to the ground, and kicked her. The woman briefly lost consciousness and sustained significant bruising.
Saund continued: “At the sentence hearing today, we used a community impact statement from a Jewish community leader to further demonstrate the wider impact this display of hatred can have on the local community, causing trauma and fear across society.”
“There is no place for such intolerance and hatred, and the Crown Prosecution Service will continue to work closely with the police to ensure those who spread hate, prejudice and hostility are prosecuted.”
The girls were found guilty of attempted robbery, religiously aggravated harassment, and actual bodily harm. One of the defendants was also convicted of attempted theft.
English (US) ·