From Europe News:
Two men deny attempting to blow up mosque in poppies burning 'revenge attack'
mirror.co.uk 8 December 2011
Two men accused of attempting to blow up a mosque in a "revenge attack" after poppies were burnt by Muslim extremists have denied any involvement. Ex-soldier Simon Beech and Garreth Foster both told Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court they were not responsible for setting fire to the mosque, or for running a pipe into the building from a nearby gas meter.
Beech, the first of the two men to give evidence to jurors, denied suggestions by prosecution counsel that he had set fire to the mosque to put himself "on the map" after making threats on a Facebook page.
Beech, 23, of Hilton Road, Hartshill, and Foster, 29, of Hartshill Road, Stoke, deny a single count of arson in relation to the fire at Hanley's Regent Road mosque on December 3 last year.
Jurors have heard that Beech made comments on a Facebook page prior to the blaze, writing: "The time has come. They burn our poppies, we burn their place. Burn the lot of them out."
The court has also heard that Beech, then serving in the army, sent a text message to Foster around a month before the fire asking him if he was "up for blowing that s***hole up?"
Giving evidence in his defence, Beech maintained that the message did not refer to the mosque, but was a reference to a foxhole in a field near his parents' home.
Under cross-examination by prosecutor Paul Spratt, Beech said he was in the vicinity of the mosque as smoke was seen coming from the building.
But the former serviceman denied any involvement in setting the fire and told jurors his views were not aimed at the whole Muslim community, but at extremist individuals.
(...)
Posted December 8th, 2011 by pk
Two men deny attempting to blow up mosque in poppies burning 'revenge attack'
mirror.co.uk 8 December 2011
Two men accused of attempting to blow up a mosque in a "revenge attack" after poppies were burnt by Muslim extremists have denied any involvement. Ex-soldier Simon Beech and Garreth Foster both told Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court they were not responsible for setting fire to the mosque, or for running a pipe into the building from a nearby gas meter.
Beech, the first of the two men to give evidence to jurors, denied suggestions by prosecution counsel that he had set fire to the mosque to put himself "on the map" after making threats on a Facebook page.
Beech, 23, of Hilton Road, Hartshill, and Foster, 29, of Hartshill Road, Stoke, deny a single count of arson in relation to the fire at Hanley's Regent Road mosque on December 3 last year.
Jurors have heard that Beech made comments on a Facebook page prior to the blaze, writing: "The time has come. They burn our poppies, we burn their place. Burn the lot of them out."
The court has also heard that Beech, then serving in the army, sent a text message to Foster around a month before the fire asking him if he was "up for blowing that s***hole up?"
Giving evidence in his defence, Beech maintained that the message did not refer to the mosque, but was a reference to a foxhole in a field near his parents' home.
Under cross-examination by prosecutor Paul Spratt, Beech said he was in the vicinity of the mosque as smoke was seen coming from the building.
But the former serviceman denied any involvement in setting the fire and told jurors his views were not aimed at the whole Muslim community, but at extremist individuals.
(...)
Posted December 8th, 2011 by pk
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