Statement: Spate of anti-Muslim graffiti targeting Islamic institutions in East London escalated to the Crown Court for sentencing after Tell MAMA highlights community impact
A 21-year-old man, Illia Bilyk, appeared at Stratford Magistrates’ Court yesterday (19 October). The District Judge decided the magistrates’ court’s sentencing powers were insufficient and committed the case to the Crown Court for sentence. Bilyk will be sentenced in due course.
Bilyk had pleaded guilty to five counts of racially or religiously aggravated criminal damage. The charges followed a wave of anti-Muslim graffiti targeting five Islamic premises across Leyton and Stratford in January 2025. Tell MAMA shared information with the Metropolitan Police during the investigation.
The five targeted premises were:
- the Stratford Islamic Association
- the Albirr Foundation
- Leyton Jamia Masjid
- Noor Ul Islam Primary School
- the Islamic Shariah Council
Varinder Hayre, District Crown Prosecutor and Hate Crime Lead for the London North Magistrates’ Court unit in CPS London North, told the court about the serious impact the vandalism had on local Muslim communities, particularly children and families at Noor Ul Islam Primary School. She read out the community impact statement submitted by Tell MAMA (Measuring Anti-Muslim Attacks). The statement described the fear the attacks caused locally and placed the offences in the context of record levels of anti-Muslim hate recorded by Tell MAMA nationally and in London. It also set out Tell MAMA’s research on the online network “Direct Action UK”. Ms Hayre described the offences as serious and asked the court to uplift the sentence to reflect the racial and religious aggravation.
Tell MAMA’s role and the “Direct Action UK” network
During its lengthy monitoring of “Direct Action UK”, Tell MAMA captured footage of an unknown man vandalising Noor Ul Islam Primary School with graffiti. He was later identified as Bilyk. Although his face was not visible, Tell MAMA identified a distinctive barbed-wire tattoo on his right wrist. It shared this with the police and counter-terrorism officers, together with a wider body of evidence it had collected on the channel, including the channel’s sharing of terrorist material. The Financial Times also referred to the unknown man with the wrist tattoo in its coverage.
“Direct Action UK” is a fake far-right Telegram channel run by a Russian-speaking handler known as “El Money”. As reported by the Financial Times, the same channel instructed Roman Lavrynovych, who was convicted earlier this year over the arson attacks linked to Sir Keir Starmer. During that trial he admitted vandalising two Islamic centres in south London.
In December 2025, Tell MAMA published a report on “Direct Action UK” and its possible links to pro-Kremlin hacktivist groups. Further articles are available here and here.
Iman Atta OBE, Director of Tell MAMA, said:
“We welcome the court’s decision today to send this case to the Crown Court, recognising the serious harm these attacks caused to families, worshippers and schoolchildren in east London. These five premises are places of faith, learning and sanctuary. When they are targeted, the whole community is affected.
“We are grateful to the affected institutions for their resilience, and to the Metropolitan Police and the Crown Prosecution Service for their handling of this case. Today’s decision sends a clear message that anti-Muslim hatred is taken seriously by the justice system.”