Three London mosques receive handwritten death threats

Three London mosques have been on the receiving end of handwritten death threats.

A note to Forest Gate Mosque – which doubles as a primary school – contained white powder and threatened a “great cleanse of London”, adding that an explosive device would be left there “very soon”.

The letter was opened by primary school manager Shah Muhammed, who told the Evening Standard: “The world has gone crazy. There were kids around in the day, it is dangerous to do this to scare them.

“They were kept in their classes and didn’t realise something happened until they saw the police when their parents came to pick them up. The person who did this needs to be found quickly.”

Similarly worded letters were also posted to the Shacklewell Lane Mosque in Dalston and the Coventry Cross Mosque in Bromley-by-Bow.

All had a Sheffield postmark and similar handwriting; counter-terrorism police are now investigating.

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Erkin Guney, 52, leader of the Shacklewell Lane Mosque told the Evening Standard that the letter they received – which warned of an impending visit “to make you vermin pay” – had caused huge concern.

He said: “I was in total shock, it was a very clear threat. Now we worry that Muslim men, women and children could be ploughed into and thrown in the air by a lorry driving into them or anything, it’s terrifying.

“It’s clear these people are programmed for hate. We now feel constantly under threat.”

A spokeswoman for the North-East Counter-terrorism Unit confirmed that officers had attended the three sites and examined the letters and their packaging. None of them were found to be harmful.

She added that they were looking into the possibility that the three notes are linked to other threatening letters received in London, south Yorkshire and the US.