Equality Before the Law?

"Hate" crime one:

A churchgoer who left pork products outside a mosque during a hate campaign against Muslims has been put behind bars.

John White, 63, left rashers of bacon outside the religious building in South Shields, and similar products outside worshippers' homes.

'Such foul discrimination is offensive to all right minded people, regardless of their religious beliefs.'

But the judge said White, who lives near the mosque and has attended a church in the same street for over 30 years, must be kept in custody until he is sentenced in September.

So, White will be kept in prison until his sentence is passed in September - for 5 counts of "religiously aggravated harassment, alarm or distress."

Whilst I don't condone what he did, I'm convinced the courts have set far more dangerous and criminally minded people free to walk amongst us - is he really a huge threat to society?

"Hate" crime two:

A taxi driver ranted racial abuse outside a Jewish school after getting stuck in a traffic jam.

Taha Osman shrieked ‘All Jewish children must die!’ after his car was hemmed in by parents picking up pupils outside King David School in Crumpsall.

Two mums on the school run and a teaching assistant were singled out in a foul-mouthed and ‘frightening’ tirade witnessed by kids, Manchester Crown Court heard.

Osman – an Iraqi Kurd who has settled in Britain – also shouted that Jewish people were ‘animals’ who ‘should not be allowed in this country’.

Say what you like about this chap, but he certainly doesn't do irony, does he?

The 36-year-old denied causing religiously aggravated harassment, alarm or distress in a trial, but was found guilty by the jury.

The court heard Osman launched his tirade on October 5, after a traffic jam formed on Seymour Road outside King David School.

Osman was on his way to Tesco when he got stuck in the congestion lost his temper at the driver in front of him, Sigal Bar-Ilan.

Caroline Franks told the court that she had collected her children, aged four and six, from the school, when she saw him shouting at Mrs Bar-Ilan.

When Mrs Franks got out of her vehicle to help the woman manoeuvre her car, Osman screamed vile racial insults at them both.

Mrs Bar-Ilan said her daughter began to cry and her son asked ‘Why’s the man shouting at you mummy?’ She told the jury the incident ‘scared the hell out of my children and out of me’.

Mrs Franks said the abuse continued even after she got back in her car, and Joanne Cantor, a teaching assistant, said she was ‘shocked’ by the rant, which led the victims to contact people.

Sentencing Osman, of Roch Bank, Blackley, Judge Stockdale said that his language had been of the ‘utmost offensiveness’.

He added: “Your rant on that afternoon crossed the boundary between what would have been ill-mannered, foul-mouthed loutish behaviour into the territory of criminal behaviour.

So, White admitted the charges against him, wasn't actually threatening or abusive to anyone, and seems to be a man with mental health issues who bizarrely thought leaving pork outside a mosque was some sort of revenge for the poppy-burning protest held by Muslims in London on Remembrance Day last year.

Osman genuinely has a violent hatred for a certain section of British society, and seems to be a man whose temper is on a knife-edge, even around children - plus he denied the charges against him and had to be subject to an expensive trial.

What penalty did Osman receive?

Sentencing him to a community order, Judge David Stockdale QC said it was a ‘particularly nasty offence’ – but did not warrant a jail sentence.

Of course it didn't.

In fact, many would probably be surprised at just what doesn't "warrant a jail sentence" in New Britain. Just so long as you keep those packets of bacon to yourself, you can pretty much do what you like.

It really is beginning to look like some thought criminals are more equal than others, isn't it?

More Reasons to Shop at Morrisons

This story reaches us from Nottingham:

SUPERMARKET Morrisons has apologised after a Muslim family bought a tuna salad which contained ham.

The family from Carlton bought two pasta salads which were labelled as tuna salads from Morrisons in Netherfield last month.

But when they got home they discovered it was a ham salad.

It is against the family's religion to eat meat from a pig. The mum-of-two in the family, who did not want to be identified, complained to Morrisons about the mis-labelled food.

Fair enough. The salads were labelled wrongly, and most supermarkets would apologise and offer a refund or a replacement upon being informed of the mistake.

Ordinarily, of course, this might even be enough to absolve them of such a terrible sin.

She said: "My children and I have never eaten ham before so we didn't know what it looked like. But we realised straight away that it was not tuna in the salad and my children were very distraught."

Distraught? Why? Apart from anything else, the Koran makes it quite clear that ingesting pork by mistake is not haram.

She also said she was unhappy with the response she received from Morrisons.

Ah, now we're getting somewhere. Can someone hear supermarket tills ringing?

So, what was this slap in the face of a response?

She said: "I received a £15 gift voucher as an apology but this is not enough. Morrisons need to realise the damage they have done. If food is mis-labelled, people could have allergic reactions when picking produce they think is safe to eat."

These things happen, and under the circumstances I think Morrisons have been more than generous - a £15 gift voucher is more than most people would receive if they complained about something like this, unless they were particularly dogged about it.

I can't imagine the event making the local paper, either.

If she or one of her children actually had suffered an allergic reaction to the ham and died, then perhaps we could look at what Morrisons owe her family. As it is, absolutely nothing happened, except for something that is routine in supermarkets throughout Britain on a daily basis - so how much exactly would be "enough"?

She just wants to blow this out of all proportion because she's playing the extremely tattered, incredibly over-used Islamic victim card; she doesn't want to be treated like everyone else, but better than everyone else, because any offence is clearly far more grievous if committed against a Muslim.

How long before supermarkets in certain "enriched" parts of the country stop serving haram products at all, lest a terrible thing like this occur again?

7 Arrested for Gang Rape in Australia

From The Age:

SEVEN males have been charged with the gang rape of a woman in Bendigo.

Police allege the men unlawfully imprisoned and repeatedly raped the woman at a residence in Flora Hill early on Sunday.

Four of the men, Mohammad Zaoli, 21, Mohammed Elnour, 18, Aru Gar, 19, and Akoak Manon, 18, appeared via video link in the Bendigo Magistrates Court yesterday. They each face 17 charges, including 14 of rape. The other three accused are aged 14, 16 and 17 and cannot be named. They appeared in a children's court on the same 17 charges.

Zaoli, Elnour, Gar and Manon were remanded in custody until Friday when they were expected to seek bail. Their co-accused were expected to apply for bail in a children's court on the same day.