Protester who tore up Koran has case dropped at Leicester court
A man who was put on trial after staging an anti-religion protest by ripping out pages from the Koran in front of Muslims has had the case against him dropped.
A jury at Leicester Crown Court failed to reach a verdict in the case against Peter James Crawford last month.
The Crown Prosecution Service reviewed the evidence and a decision was made not to continue with a fresh trial.
The case was dropped against Mr Crawford, 52, when the prosecution offered no evidence against him at a hearing – a move described by Mr Crawford's advocate as "sensible".
During the trial in December, Mr Crawford was alleged to have torn pages from his own copy of the Koran and thrown the holy book on the ground next to a stall run by the Islamic Information Centre, near the Clock Tower, in Leicester, on May 12 last year.
He told Muslim volunteers at the stall that he disagreed with their religion.
Mr Crawford, of Mere Road, Spinney Hills, Leicester, claimed in interview he was expressing his disagreement with religion of any kind, saying it was all "b******t".
He told police he would have done the same with a Bible as he did not understand either holy book and "hated" all religion.
"I'm not against the people, just their religion," he said.
James Bide-Thomas, prosecuting, said in his opening address to the jury last month that freedom of speech was "tradition in this country" and "people are entitled to say what they want, as long as it's not illegal in relation to the law which prevents people going out to cause harassment, alarm or distress by insulting behaviour".
He said: "It's for you to decide whether what he did was insulting or whether it was a legitimate piece of freedom of speech being exercised, or whether what he did was deliberately calculated to upset the people from the Islamic Information Centre."
The jury told the judge there was no prospect of them reaching either a unanimous verdict or one on which at least 10 of them agreed.
Mr Crawford had denied causing religiously aggravated intentional harassment, alarm or distress, by demonstrating hostility based on membership of a particular religious group.
Speaking this week, Mr Crawford's defence advocate during the trial, Steven Newcombe, said: "I think the prosecution made a sensible decision not to have a retrial in the light of the jury being deadlocked.
"There were other ways of dealing with this matter, rather than attempting to prosecute Mr Crawford in a crown court.
"He has learned a lesson and I'm sure he will conduct himself with a greater degree of sensitivity."
A spokesman for the Crown Prosecution Service said: "When jury cannot decide on a verdict, the prosecution must decide whether to seek a retrial on the basis of the same evidence.
"A number of factors must be taken into account, including the likely penalty if the defendant is found guilty, the time delay in securing a date for the retrial, the views of the victim, judiciary and police and the likelihood of another jury reaching a decision."
Mr Crawford was not available for comment.
Koran-ripping jury discharged
The jury in the trial of a man who staged an anti-religion protest by ripping out pages from the Koran in front of Muslims has been discharged.
The eight women and four men on the jury at Leicester Crown Court failed to agree on a verdict.
They sent a note to the judge saying there was no prospect of them reaching either a unanimous or a majority verdict on which at least 10 of them agreed.
Peter James Crawford (52) was said to have torn pages from his own copy of the Koran and thrown the holy book on the ground next to a stall run by the Islamic Information Centre, near the Clock Tower, in Leicester city centre, on the afternoon of May 12.
Crawford, of Mere Road, Spinney Hill, Leicester, denied causing religiously aggravated intentional harassment, alarm or distress by demonstrating hostility based on membership of a particular religious group. The Crown Prosecution Service has 14 days to decide whether or not to proceed with a retrial.
Crawford was released on bail with a condition imposed that he should not to go within half-a-mile of the Clock Tower on Saturday afternoons.
Ripping Koran was "freedom of speech"
An atheist who ripped out pages from the Koran in front of Muslims at a stall promoting Islam was simply exercising freedom of speech, a court heard.
Peter James Crawford told police his decision to then throw the holy book on to the pavement at the Clock Tower, in Leicester city centre, was part of his protest against religion.
The 52-year-old is on trial at Leicester Crown Court accused of causing religiously aggravated intentional harassment, alarm or distress, by demonstrating hostility based on membership of a particular religious group, Islam.
He denies the charge.
Barrister Steven Newcombe, who is representing Crawford, told the jury: "You have to expect that if you set up a stall in the city centre of Leicester advocating views, you are going to get people who have a completely opposite view.
"To do what they did in such a place takes a bit of a thick skin.
"You have to anticipate and expect that somebody is going to take exception and that is exactly what this defendant did.
"This defendant had a right to freedom of expression, just as the two Muslims had a similar right to advocate their religion."
After he had been arrested, Crawford told police he had had the copy of the Koran for two years and had studied it.
Prosecutor James Bide-Thomas told the jury Crawford, of Mere Road, Spinney Hill, Leicester, had approached the Islamic Information Centre's stall run by volunteers under the Clock Tower on Saturday, May 12.
He said at about 1.30pm, Crawford tore out pages of the Koran he had brought with him and then threw the holy book on to the pavement.
Mr Bide-Thomas said: "You the jury have to decide whether he made a valid religious protest or did he go out to upset some Muslims?"He said it was the prosecution case that Crawford had deliberately caused distress and upset to the Muslims on the stall.
Her honour Judge Taylor QC told the jury that the case centred on the balance between the right of Crawford to freedom of speech and the right of the two Muslims to advocate their views without being subject to criminal behaviour.
She said the jury had to decide whether Crawford's behaviour had been insulting and whether the decision to prosecute him was proportionate.
The jury of eight women and four men deliberated for one hour and 39 minutes before the judge sent them to a hotel for the night. They were due to resume their deliberations today.
This article appears in today's Leicester Mercury:
Atheist in court for ripping up Koran
An atheist shocked Muslim volunteers at a stall promoting Islam when he ripped out pages from the Koran.
Peter James Crawford (52) then threw the holy book onto the ground and told them: "Your religion is a load of b******s."
He is on trial at Leicester Crown Court accused of causing religiously aggravated intentional harassment, alarm or distress, by demonstrating hostility based on membership of a particular religious group, Islam. He denies the charge.
The incident happened at the Islamic Information Centre's stall, near the Clock Tower in Leicester city centre, on a busy Saturday afternoon, on May 12.
Kamran Qayyum, an employee of the organisation, told the court: "We give out literature to create an awareness of Islam and engage with the public."
He was with four volunteers when Crawford began pacing around nearby.
Mr Qayyum said: "He started tearing up pages from a book and they were going on the floor. He wasn't saying anything. The pages covered a lot of ground, they were everywhere.
"I then noticed Arabic inscriptions and realised it was the Koran. I knelt down and was picking up the papers when he threw the Koran down, just missing me."
Mr Qayyum said: "The Koran is sacred to us and we honour it. We also have a Bible on our stand and we show the Bible the same respect.
"One of the laws of the Koran is it shouldn't be on the floor, it should be high up and our hands should be clean when it's touched. I was shocked."
Mr Quyyum said after the defendant was arrested: "He made a signal to us, shaping his hand in the form of a gun, saying 'See you next Saturday.'
Defence advocate Steven Newcombe said: "There are many who oppose Islam. Did you take it he was expressing anti-Islamic views and disrespecting the religion?"
"Yes," said Mr Quyyum.
Mr Quyyum agreed that apart from a hand gesture – which Mr Newcombe suggested was the pointing of a finger rather than a gun gesture – the defendant did not threaten or provoke any violence.
Another stall volunteer, Zahid Hussein, said: "I saw him ripping up the book. I was in shock, disgusted. It's our life, our way of life and we live by that book – it's very sacred."
He said Crawford told them their religion was "a load of b******s."
Crawford, of Mere Road, Spinney Hill, Leicester, claimed, in interview, he was expressing his disagreement with religion of any kind.
He told the police it was his own copy of the Koran he tore up, and he would have done the same with a Bible as he did not understand either holy book and "hated" all religion.
"I'm not against the people, just their religion," he said.
James Bide-Thomas, prosecuting, said: "The real issue is whether Crawford was insulting and whether it was a crime that we say he committed.
"It's tradition in this country of freedom of speech and people are entitled to say what they want, as long as it's not illegal in relation to the law, which prevents people going out to cause harassment, alarm or distress by insulting behaviour, basically upsetting people.
"It's for you to decide whether what he did was insulting or whether it was a legitimate piece of freedom of speech being exercised or if what he did was deliberately calculated to upset the people from the Islamic Information Centre."
The trial continues.
