A 65-year-old Jewish woman was found guilty of a ‘hate crime’ against two young Muslim men at St Albans Magistrates Court, last Friday (May 22).
Linda Jones, 65, of Perrycoste Court, St Albans, was given a 12 month community order and six week curfew following the incident in Watford on April 17, 2014.
Judge Pilling found Jones, who had no previous convictions, guilty of a religiously-aggravated Section 4A public order offence last month, after she called two Muslim men “terrorists with guns in their pockets”.
During the Jewish holiday of Passover last year, Jones and other members of the Beit Nitzachon congregation were manning a council-approved literature table in Watford town centre.
The table was draped with the national flags of Britain and Israel and carried Messianic Jewish literature.
Two young Muslim men, Hamza Shah, 21, and Haroon Munir, 24, approached the table and engaged in heated discussion about Israel with various people nearby.
After several minutes Hamza Shah led Haroon Munir away from the argument, during which Jones was found to have made the racist comment.
She is expected to appeal against her conviction.
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