A SELF-CONFESSED nationalist with ties to the far-right English Defence League (EDL) was jailed this week for attacking a Braintree mosque in the wake of the Woolwich murder.
Geoffrey Ryan, 44, of Brick Kiln Way, Braintree, threw a smoke grenade through the window of the Al Falah mosque in Silks Way and threatened to kill Saruk Miah, who was going to start evening prayers but was forced to escape onto a flat roof.
Ryan, a builder, admitted at Chelmsford Crown Court on Monday two counts of possessing a knife, one count of affray and one count of threatening unlawful violence, and was jailed for nine months.
The court heard how Ryan, a father-of-two, had gone to the prayer centre armed with two knives and a yellow smoke grenade at 7pm on May 22, the same day that drummer Lee Rigby was murdered on the streets of Woolwich, sparking riots.
Mr Miah, 46, from Braintree, was the only person in the building at the time and was upstairs.
When he heard the explosion, followed by shouting from Ryan, he managed to climb out onto the flat roof of the mosque to call police.
Then Ryan shouted: "******* come out, I'm going to kill you. Let's see if Allah or God come to help you."
Whilst brandishing the knives, Ryan then shouted: "I'll kill you Muslims, I'll kill you before the police come, come downstairs, come out, I'm going to cut your throat."
Speaking to the Chronicle after the attack, Mr Miah said: "I was so scared I didn't know what was going on. When I got onto the roof I called the police and they came and arrested the guy."
When officers arrived Ryan refused to drop his weapons and police had to use batons to subdue him, something his defence lawyer said left him with a broken arm.
Steven Levy, defending, said: "He has been out of trouble since 2000 and these offences were committed a week to the day after his brother took his own life.
"The defendant was in care at 12 years old, he was a victim of abuse, and this abuse continued in care.
"Then his brother took the responsibility of looking after him, therefore his death had a devastating effect on him.
"The defendant had an argument with his brother shortly before committing this offence, about his time in care, and the defendant commented: 'if you're going to kill yourself, do it properly this time,' and he feels this has been the reason why his brother did do it properly as he described. As a result he wanted to put an end to himself and wasn't thinking clearly."
In a hearing at Colchester Magistrates' Court in May, Ryan was refused bail for fears over his current mental state.
The crown court heard about Ryan's previous convictions for assault in 1989, 1990 and 2000.
Detective Constable Andy Young, the investigating officer, said: "This incident at the Al Falah prayer centre caused unnecessary fear, not only for the people who witnessed it, but also local residents at a time when emotions were already running high due to the death of drummer Lee Rigby in London.
"Ryan's imprisonment should serve as a warning to others who intend to cause fear and unrest in the community for their own agendas, whether personal or not."
In e-mails to this newspaper dating back to 2011, Ryan described his patriotic views and desire to fight Sharia law in Britain with "militant moderation" as part of an EDL splinter group called UK Resistance.
He goes on to distance himself from the EDL and details a schism that formed in the organisation.
Sentencing, Judge Goldstaub QC said: "It was an attack that was both racial and religiously motivated and it's the kind of thing that won't be tolerated in this country, which is a tolerant country that deals with matters through the judicial process and not people taking the law into their own hands."
Ryan was sentenced to nine months for each offence, to be served concurrently, with time spent in custody deducted, which means he could be out in six weeks.
Kashif Ahmed, imam at the Al Falah prayer centre, told the Chronicle: "We were expecting a little bit more but really, as a community, we are not too bothered about what jail term he gets. We wouldn't have been too bothered if he'd got less – we have forgiven him and moved on."
