'We're being targeted because of our views': Wolverhampton mosque leader speaks out on hate crime attack

The vandalism the Bait-ul-Ata Mosque on Wolverhampton's Willenhall Road has caused 'considerable distress within the community', police said as they revealed they are treating it as a hate crime.

Footage obtained by the Express & Star shows a man reaching over the gates at the front of the mosque to hurl a missile. He returns a few minutes later with handfuls of other items which he throws at the building.

Security has now been increased at the mosque so it now has around the clock surveillance with someone sleeping in the building each night to deter further attacks.

The recent vandalism was the latest of two attacks on the building, causing up to £600 of damage.

Muhammad Yaseen Khan, president of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Association, which runs the mosque, believes the mosque has been deliberately targeted and it was the result of him speaking publicly about his views on how to tackle extremism.

In an interview with the Express & Star in March, Mr Khan said he believed every mosque in Britain should be monitored to stop extremists 'poisoning' young people's minds.

He said children were being targeted by extremists on the internet and were being given the 'wrong' message in mosques. Mr Khan also declared that British followers of Islam were not true Muslims if they were not loyal to their country.

His comments came amid a national campaign, backed by West Midlands Police, after 22 girls were reported missing and feared to have joined jihadists in the so-called Islamic State in Syria.

But Mr Khan believes his comments may have angered certain members of the community, prompting them to target the mosque.

"I believe we are being targeted as a result of my views, which not everybody will have agreed with," said Mr Khan, aged 64.

"In April, there was a break-in and our security camera was smashed by someone who had their face covered by a hood.

"Although there was footage and they was no way to tell who the perpetrator was so there was nothing the police could do.

Then in June somebody smashed the front window of the mosque. He was throwing broken bricks and stones.

"He did it in two intervals when he could no traffic was going past.

"We've now replaced the windows. It's not so much the damage that is important as the fear they are causing. It's harassment.

"We've heightened security, we have 24 hour security alarms and someone is sleeping inside the mosque," he said.

Police have now released a CCTV image of a man suspected of being behind the second attack which took place at just after 4am on June 21.

Sergeant Martin Hewitt, from Wolverhampton police has appealed for the man to 'do the right thing' and hand himself in. He said police were determined to catch the perpetrator and that someone in the community must know who their identity.

"We are dealing with this crime as a hate crime. Someone deliberately targeted the Mosque and this has caused considerable distress within the community"

"We are appealing for anyone who can identify the man to get in touch, we really believe that the local community may have the answer to solving this crime.

"I would also like to appeal to the person in the image to do the right thing and come forward, we are determined to find this person and it is only a matter of time before we knock their door,added Sgt Hewitt.

The mosque opened in 2012 and typically has around 80 worshippers.

Witnesses or anyone with information are asked to call police on 101 or Crimestoppers annoymously on 0800 555111.