The 'horrific acts of violence' that will see fire attacker spend years in hospital

Prosecutors condemned the "horrific acts of violence" which saw two worshippers set on fire as the man responsible faced the prospect of years in hospital. Mohammed Abbkr, from Gillott Road, Edgbaston, sprayed petrol over an 82-year-old and used a lighter to set him on fire outside West Ealing Islamic Centre in west London in the evening of Monday, February 27, 2023.

Three weeks later, on March 20 2023, the 29-year-old doused a 70-year-old with petrol from a bottle outside Dudley Road Mosque in Edgbaston before setting him alight . He was arrested a day after the Dudley Road Mosque attack, and detained after police tracked him returning to the mosque on March 21.

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The victims were left with burn injuries. The Birmingham victim, Mohammed Rayaz, was in hospital for three weeks and suffered mental health issues since. His son, Adnaan Rayaz, said: “The whole attack has made us more anxious and cautious.”

The court found there was no evidence Abbkr, who arrived in the UK from Sudan in 2017, was motivated by a particular ideology, and so the incidents were not treated as a terrorist attack. He was said to have been suffering from paranoid schizophrenia and believed the victims had 'supernatural qualities'.

He was found guilty of two counts of attempted murder following a trial at Birmingham Crown Court which ended on November 6 last year. Today, Wednesday, April 16, Judge Melbourne Inman KC, the Recorder of Birmingham, found Abbkr was suffering a ‘severe mental illness’ at the time of the attack.

He was sentenced at Birmingham Crown Court to a hospital order which means he cannot be released without the approval of the Secretary of State. He is expected to remain detained ‘for a number of years’.

After the hearing, Nick Price, head of the CPS Special Crime and Counter Terrorism Division, said: “These were horrific acts of violence against two elderly members of the public as they left mosques. Mohammed Abbkr’s actions resulted in severe injuries and psychological trauma to his victims and caused considerable shock and concern to the communities in London and Birmingham.

“I hope today’s sentence provides some reassurance to all those affected that they are safer now this man has been brought to justice.”