A VIOLENT woman who assaulted a mum and shouted racist insults has been spared jail.
Sharon Gill, 37, punched the victim, whose leg was in a cast at the time, leaving her with lasting injuries to her eye.
The victim, mum Zahilda Nazir, was at home with her father and daughter when they heard shouting outside.
Teesside Crown Court heard yesterday that when the family investigated the noise, Gill was heard to shout “What the **** are you looking at?” before punching the victim in the face.
POLICE have vowed to clamp down on hate crimes across Teesside after claims two people were targeted through social networking sites.
The Safer Middlesbrough Partnership and partner agencies operate a monthly Hate Crime Case Group to tackle harassment.
A hate crime is any criminal offence motivated by hostility or prejudice based on the victom’s disability, race, religion or belief, sexual orientatio or transgender.
Recently the group dealt with two reported cases of internet- based hate crime after the victims were targeted through social networking sites because of their race or religious backgrounds.
Rise in hate crime follows BNP council election victories
Reports of racial and religiously motivated crime rose following the election of British National party councillors in several far- right strongholds, police statistics have revealed.
Complaints of hate crime increased in wards in the West Midlands, London and Essex after the election of a BNP member, in spite of declines in reported hate crime in the wider police areas. In other wards race crime reportedly rose in the runup to BNP election victories, according to the figures, obtained by the Guardian under the Freedom of Information Act.
The findings came as the party stepped up its campaign to win its first seats in the House of Commons with a "weekend of action" in Barking and Dagenham, where the culture and tourism minister, Margaret Hodge, faces a challenge for her Labour seat from BNP leader, Nick Griffin. Hodge said the new figures cast doubt on police assurances that there is no link between racially motivated crime and a BNP presence.
A NEW panel of professionals and volunteers has been formed to tackle hate crime on Teesside.
A NEW panel of professionals and volunteers has been formed to tackle hate crime on Teesside.
The Cleveland Race and Faith Crime Scrutiny Panel, made up of members of the community with experience in the issues facing minority groups on Teesside, held its first meeting last week.
They will examine completed prosecution cases and identify improvements which can be made.
Cleveland Race and Faith Crime Scrutiny Panel Members
(Left to Right front Row) Idrees Rashid, Mussad Bashir, Taib Kasnazany, Mahmoud Suleiman, Chief Inspector Amanda Oliver
(Left to Right front backrow) Margaret Phillips, Gerry Wareham , Glenn Blackwood, Caroline Airs (CPS)
News report from the BBC, showing abuse suffered by Muslims family in Co. Durham.
Churchgoer targeted Muslims in parking row
Churchgoer targeted Muslims in parking row
A DEVOUT churchgoer left notes at a mosque branding Muslims "scum" and calling for them to be "slaughtered", a court heard.
Terrance Martin Wale, 64, wrote racially offensive messages after he "snapped" following a long-running dispute over parking problems.
Over a six-week period Wale, a "devout Roman Catholic", left a series of notes in prominent places at the Abu Bakr mosque in Middlesbrough, Wale pictured outside court.
They were found by members of the town's Muslim community, including the imam of the mosque.
Some of the messages were left in bottles, Teesside Magistrates' Court was told.
The notes, which were left on five separate occasions, included messages such as: "May God guide Israel and slaughter all Muslim scum".
Another referred to Muslims as "lying, treacherous and cowardly", adding: "We spit on you and your false religion".
Wale, who lived nearby, was arrested after police saw a man acting suspiciously in the area of the mosque, said prosecutor Ian Bradshaw.
Interviewed by police he made full and frank admissions, the court heard.
Wale, of Park Road North, Middlesbrough, admitted five offences of causing harassment, alarm or distress which was racially or religiously aggravated
