Koran burner is jailed for 70 days (UK)

[HavokFour]

Koran burner is jailed for 70 days ​

Article

A FORMER squaddie who burned a copy of the Koran in anger after seeing Muslims set fire to poppies has been jailed for 70 days.

Andrew Ryan, 32, "lost it" after watching videos of extremists which also included them abusing soldiers returning from duty in Afghanistan.

After stealing a £5 copy of the Islamic holy book from a library he stood on a bench in a street and set it alight, yelling: "You burn our poppies, I'll burn your Koran."

Ryan, who is in the right-wing English Defence League, admitted religiously aggravated harassment, alarm and distress and stealing the library book in January.

Eleven of his supporters walked out of Carlisle Magistrates' Court in Cumbria after the sentencing, shouting: "That's a joke."

It comes after Islamic extremist Emdadur Choudhury, 26, was fined £60 for torching poppies in London on Armistice Day.

Judge Chalk said Ryan, of Cumbria, who has six convictions for offences including using indecent or racially aggravated language at a football game, was guilty of "preplanned theatrical bigotry".

He added: "You went out to cause maximum distress to people of the Islamic faith."

Mixed feelings on this, but I can't help but think there is a double standard.

EDIT: WHOOPS!

 

[JMesh]

Koran burner is jailed for 70 days ​

Article

Mixed feelings on this, but I can't help but think there is a double standard.

EDIT: WHOOPS!

Ryan already had six convictions (including at least one where he used indecent or racially aggravated language) under his belt. If the poppy burner had none, then this is just elevated sentencing taking his previous convictions into account and I don't see it as a double standard. If the poppy burner had the same history, then maybe there is room to talk about that.

 

[wannabe SF member]

I'm gonna go on a stretch here and say that saying that the burning of the Qu'ran being causing "maximum distress" to muslims is serious exaggeration. Methinks that this jusge is playing the political game and quite blatantly at that.

Given the overreaction on the other side every time that piece of print is burned, I can see this sort of thing happening more and more in the future.