Two charged by police after shock footage shows man kicked and spat at by knifeman after ‘burning Koran’ in London
15 February 2025, 11:31
Two people have been charged after a video emerged of a man burning a Koran and another man attacking him outside the Turkish consulate in London.
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Social media footage showed a man being kicked on the ground by his knife-wielding attacker.
Hamit Coskun, 50, from Derby, had been charged with a religiously aggravated public order offence after he was filmed apparently burning the book in Rutland Gardens, Knightsbridge on Thursday, the Metropolitan Police said.
Coskun was remanded in custody and will appear before Westminster Magistrates' Court today.
Moussa Kadri, 59, from Kensington and Chelsea, has been charged with causing actual bodily harm and possession of an offensive weapon.
He was bailed and will appear at the same court on Monday.
Videos shared on social media show a man with his hood up and a rucksack on holding a Koran, Islam’s holy book, outside the Turkish consulate in Knightsbridge, west London.
He then sets the book on fire, walking towards the entrance of the consulate and shouting something unintelligible - though it is clear he says “Koran terrorist”.
Videos taken from the busy London street in Rutland Gardens then show another man asking why he is burning the Koran, before swearing at him and coming out with a knife.
The attacker then swung his knife at the man, who tripped while running away, and repeatedly kicked him while he was on the floor.
He appears to scream at the man: “You f—ing idiot. You don’t burn [the] Koran. This is my religion.”
Some people passing by in cars honk their horns at the man, and someone on a bicycle also shouts at the attacker to stop.
Another man standing nearby, wearing a Deliveroo branded bag, also appeared to kick the man on the ground, before departing on his bicycle.
A spokesperson for Deliveroo said: “We are very concerned by this footage and have launched an urgent investigation. If a rider is ever found to be behaving violently while working with us, we will cancel their account with immediate effect. We will support the police investigation however we can.”
An ambulance and police were said to attend the scene.
Someone on X claiming to be the Koran burner posted pictures of a Koran before the incident, in a post that said: “I will burn a Quran in front of the Turkish Consulate in London at 14:00 on Thursday (13) to protest the Islamist government of Erdogan, who has made Turkey a base for radical Islamists and is trying to establish a sharia regime.”
In another post, the X user says “While I was burning the Quran, I was attacked with a knife. The ambulance and the police came.”
