Man who threatened to murder worshippers and urinated on mosque jailed

A racist who threatened to murder Muslim children and other worshippers and blow up a Tyneside mosque received a four-year prison sentence, the ChronicleLive newspaper reported.

The newspaper described how “race hate thug” Alexander Bolam, 33, came ‘nose-to-nose’ with a 5-year-old child outside the Heaton Mosque and threatened to murder them by making a throat-slitting gesture.

The prosecution outlined how Bolam shouted statements like “you f****** Muslims taking over my country” and “I’m going to cut your heads off, I’m going to behead you all, I’m going to blow you all up.”

We previously reported news of his court appearance last February after Bolam faced charges of racially aggravated criminal damage after Bolam had urinated on the mosque door, threats to kill, and racially aggravated common assault.

Bolam, who has 26 previous convictions, pleaded guilty to the above charges, as those impacted described how his threats and abuse left a “devastating impact” on Muslims locally.

The court also heard about his anti-Muslim comments online dating from 2013.

Following our investigation, we unearthed such online materials, which included calls to join the far-right street defence movement Britain First in 2014.

A collection of historic anti-Muslim and Islamophobic comments from Alexander Bolam which included his support for the far-right Britain First.

A year earlier, he wrote about Muslim communities “slowly taking over” and that “our population” will decrease “untill their is no white man left” and called for population control. Such anti-Muslim and Islamophobic conspiracies fall within the tropes of myths of the so-called “Islamification” of Europe, which academics and the BBC have debunked and analysed over the years. In our wide-ranging 170-page report, ‘A Decade of anti-Muslim Hate,’ our researchers draw special attention to how such anti-Muslim myths percolate and, tragically, inspire terrorism and violence.

A 2017 tweet from Bolam referenced “Islam destroying us” and further support of Britain First.

The judge called Bolam’s urination on the mosque door a “filthy act of desecration” and mentioned his actions’ lasting impacts.

Following news of his jailing, Northumbria PCC Kim McGuinness tweeted: “This was a disgusting, cowardly, terrifying attack that was in part directed at children. It had a profound impact on Muslims across our region. We will continue to send a very clear message- hate crime won’t be tolerated. This behaviour won’t be tolerated.”

Alexander Bolam will also face an extended licence period of three years after serving their sentence.

UPDATE: In a statement, Inspector Anita Morgan, of Northumbria Police, said: “Bolam’s actions were utterly shameful and he has now rightly been jailed. People, including young children, were threatened by him as they left a place of worship and that is simply not acceptable anytime, anywhere.

“Hate crime of any kind within our communities will not be tolerated under any circumstances and we welcome the sentence handed down to the offender by the courts.”

The statement further added,”Members of the public should be aware that we take every report of racially aggravated crime extremely seriously and always do our utmost to bring those responsible for these appalling offences to justice.

“If you have been a victim of such an offence, please let us know immediately so that we can take swift action.”