2 ex soldiers jailed for Grimsby Mosque bombing

[TonyGosling]

Ex-soldiers jailed for six years for firebombing Grimsby mosque after Lee Rigby's murder
Dec 20, 2013 18:50 By Lucy Thornton
Stuart Harness and Gavin Humphries were caught on CCTV throwing homemade petrol bombs at an Islamic cultural centre

Grimsby mosque Firebombers: Stuart Harness (left) and Gavin HumphriesGrimsby mosque Firebombers: Stuart Harness (left) and Gavin Humphries
Two ex-soldiers who firebombed a mosque after the murder of soldier Lee Rigby have each been jailed for six years.
Stuart Harness, 34, and Gavin Humphries, 37, hurled four home-made petrol bombs - "as if they were lobbing grenades" - at the Grimsby Islamic Cultural Centre while being filmed on CCTV cameras they thought were turned off.
The judge was told Harness, who was in the Army for 13 years, was once based at Woolwich Barracks, where the fusilier was murdered in south-east London in May.
The court heard Humphries was a former Royal Engineer who was a bodyguard for senior officers.
Both men had unblemished military records and no previous convictions, the court heard, but were caught on camera carrying out a potentially deadly arson attack.
They were seen throwing two petrol bombs each, which exploded into orange flames and engulfed the door trapping worshippers, who had just finished their evening prayers, inside.
Luckily the blaze was spotted and extinguished by several people.
Crown barrister Jeremy Evans told Hull crown court: "On May 22nd Lee Rigby of the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers was murdered in Woolwich.
"Those tragic events were to have far reaching consequences with the ripple going far and wide extending to the worshippers of the Grimsby Islamic Centre on May 26th.
"There was an obvious risk to lives. The worshipers had the presence of mind to act quickly and extinguish the flames inside the mosque.
"This is an offence that was religiously aggravated."
At the time two police community support officers were on patrol between the two mosques in Grimsby in anticipation of there being trouble after monitoring a Facebook campaign in the region.
The PSCOs saw both Harness and Humphries acting suspiciously outside the mosque with their hoodies pulled up around 9.45pm.
They were then seen and caught on CCTV, which they did not think was working, throwing the petrol bombs over the gates.
One of the worshippers inside at the time of the incident who extinguished the blaze told police: "There was a bright orange light and flames visible above the door. I opened the door to see the flames.
"The whole incident frightened and scared me. If I had opened the door 30 seconds earlier I would have been set alight. I am very lucky not to have been burnt."
One officer followed the culprits 300 metres back to Harness's house and the pair were arrested.
Detectives found the duo had accidentally filmed themselves making the bombs in the back yard of Harness's house by his own camera which was connected to his laptop.
Defence barrister Charlotte Baines for Mr Harness admitted in a letter to the judge he had committed absurd and reckless behaviour when he was in drink with Humphries.
The court were told he had seen "active warfare" during deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"Had he been sober it almost inevitable he would not have acted in this way," said Mrs Baines.
"He is a man who has served his Queen and Country - you know that from statements from the Army...He is ashamed of his own actions."
While barrister Richard Hackfath for Mr Humphries said: "His references show he is a thoughtful, moral and caring man who has committed this dreadful offence and cannot explain his actions.
"He does not blame anyone else and there is genuine and deep remorse. He would say he is not a racist. He knows the difference between right and wrong. That difference became confused on May 26. That confusion has been clarified now.
"He is a good man who has done something stupid that he bitterly regrets."
Judge Mark Bury told the pair, who had admitted arson, being reckless as to whether life was endangered, at an earlier hearing: "This was a crime of violence where a particular religious group was deliberately targeted in an act of retribution.
"This kind of attack cannot be tolerated. A severe sentence is required to punish but, more importantly, to deter."
He jailed a third defendant, Daniel Cressey, 25, from North Lincolnshire - who denied aiding and abetting the other two but was found guilty by a jury - for three years.
Judge Bury said: "Whatever your feelings of outrage were, you should have allowed justice to take its course.
"As is usual in these cases, the victims had nothing to do with the events that so enraged you.
"They were entirely innocent law-abiding Muslims who were practising their religion in a peaceable way."

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