Man banned from Peterborough mosques after drunken rant
Drunk man shouted offensive comments at worshippers and assaulted an officer
A drunk man who went into a mosque and told worshippers that "white people will destroy you" has been spared jail.
Alexander Hooper, 57, told a classroom of children at the Masjid Darassalaam in Peterborough that their prophet "was a paedophile", prosecutor Mark Jon Parkhouse said.
The defendant, of Dogsthorpe Road, Peterborough, admitted at separate earlier hearings to a religiously aggravated and to a racially aggravated public order offence.
He also admitted to assaulting a female police officer who had been called to the scene and arrested him on October 24.
He was sentenced at Peterborough Magistrates' Court on Friday to 27 weeks in prison suspended for 18 months and given a Criminal Behaviour Order banning him from all mosques in the unitary area of Peterborough for two years.
Mr Parkhouse said Hooper had been drinking before he entered the mosque at around 6.15am on October 24, and "said afterwards he didn't remember very much as he was so drunk".
The prosecutor said Hooper went upstairs where children were studying and said "their prophet was a paedophile".
He said the defendant also went into a washroom where a man was performing ablutions.
The court heard Hooper told the man "it's a death cult, you want to kill people".
The prosecutor said Hooper mentioned the name "Tommy", which Mr Parkhouse suggested was a reference to political activist Tommy Robinson and "to show he (Hooper) feels he's part of this group".
"The mosque was targeted because of their religion," Mr Parkhouse said.
"It's a sustained incident, it's 40 minutes of a big powerful man ranting at children."
A trustee of the mosque said that since the incident they have had to start locking the door of the mosque and "always have a minimum of two members of the mosque on security duty", Mr Parkhouse said.
Jason Stevens, mitigating, said Hooper was agnostic and "a person who's interested in religious ideology".
"The fact is my client has got himself very drunk and intoxicated and gone to the mosque," he said.
He said Mr Hooper has mental health issues.
Mr Stevens said Hooper, who is on benefits, accepts he said "white people will destroy you".
Presiding magistrate Jonathan Jelley sentenced Hooper to 27 weeks in prison suspended for 18 months.
He ordered that he pay £100 compensation to the female police officer who he assaulted, and a further £272 in prosecution and court costs.
Hooper was also made subject of a two-year Criminal Behaviour Order banning him from entering any mosque in the unitary area of Peterborough.