Paranoid schizophrenic who set fire to two elderly Muslims outside mosques given secure hospital order
17 April 2024, 15:23 | Updated: 17 April 2024, 16:00
A man has been given an indefinite hospital order after setting fire to two elderly Muslim worshippers on fire outside mosques in London and Birmingham.
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Mohammed Abbkr, 29, was found guilty of two counts of attempted murder at Birmingham Crown Court last year after pouring petrol over Hashi Odowa, 82, and Mohammed Rayaz, 70 and setting them alight with a lighter.
Abbkr, who came to the UK from Sudan in 2017 seeking asylum, had prayed with the congregation before waiting for the victims and following them.
It has since emerged that Abbkr has paranoid schizophrenia and believed people possessed by evil spirits were controlling him. He thought that both Mr Odowa and Mr Rayaz were among the people trying to control him.
Both victims were left with long-lasting physical injuries and mental trauma. Prosecutors argued that Abbkr knew what he was doing was wrong.
Judge Melbourne Inman KC said: "The nature of each attack was identical. You threw petrol over your victims and then set them alight - the attacks were horrific.
"The two victims in this case were, on any rational view, chosen at random. You, however, genuinely believed each of them was one of those trying to take control of you.
"I am wholly satisfied that you committed both of these offences at a time when you were suffering a severe mental illness."
Jurors convicted Abbkr by majority 11-1 verdicts after deliberating for more than seven hours over two days.
Birmingham Crown Court was told Abbkr set fire to Mr Odowa on 27 February as he made his way to a neighbour's car outside West Ealing Islamic Centre, in west London. He suffered minor burn injuries to his ear and hand.
In the second attack, jurors were told how Abbkr attended evening prayers at Dudley Road Mosque and sat near to Mr Rayaz.
Mr Odowa suffered minor burn injuries to his ear and hand after being set on fire as he made his way to a neighbour’s car outside West Ealing Islamic Centre.
CCTV from the Birmingham attack also captures both parties praying at Dudley Road Mosque on March 20.
Abbkr then follows the victim along the streets at the end of prayers and can be heard asking Mr Rayaz whether he speaks Arabic. When he says he speaks Urdu and Punjabi, Mr Rayaz can then be seen being sprayed with a liquid from a bottle before being engulfed in a ball of flames.
Abbkr, who was granted leave to remain in the UK in 2019, had denied two counts of attempted murder and two alternative counts of maliciously administering a destructive thing to endanger life.
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Jurors were told he admitted to setting the victims on fire but they had to determine whether he had intended to kill his victims and if he had known what he was doing and that it was wrong.
They heard evidence from psychiatrists who said he was suffering from paranoid schizophrenia at the time of the attacks.
Abbkr told his trial he believed those he had set on fire were among several people "controlling him through magic" and claimed he did not expect them to have been hurt.
But the prosecution encouraged the jury to reject the defence of insanity, arguing that Abbkr had known what he was doing was wrong and had intended to kill his victims.
Chief Inspector Haroon Chughtai, from West Midlands Police, said both men were left with "long-lasting physical injuries and significant mental trauma".
Counter-terrorism officers were involved in the investigation into the attacks in the run-up to Ramadan but no motive has been identified."This was not treated as a terrorist incident. To date there is no evidence of an ideology," the officer said.
"These were horrific unprovoked attacks on two men in their 70s and 80s who were leaving their local mosques and going home after their prayers."
