REDBRIDGE: "Religious" man allowed to walk free after street attack (From East London and West Essex Guardian Series)

REDBRIDGE: "Religious" man allowed to walk free after street attack

8:50am Monday 25th January 2010 in

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A REDBRIDGE man who fractured another man's jaw in a fight in a bank queue has been spared jail by Cherie Booth because he is "religious".

Cherie Booth, wife of former prime minister Tony Blair, allowed Shamso Miah, 25, of Empress Avenue, Ilford, to walk free from Inner London Crown Court, where she was sitting as judge, saying he is a "religious man" and has "not been in trouble before".

Miah was sentenced to six months in jail, to be suspended for two years, and 200 hours' community service following an attack in August last year in which he twice punched another man in the face.

The row broke out over who was next in the queue at a bank in East Ham and Miah, a devout Muslim, grabbed fellow customer Mohammed Furcan before punching him.

Mr Furcan chased Miah into the street, demanding to know why he had been hit, before Miah punched him again.

When arrested, Miah said he had acted in self defence but the court was told CCTV footage at the bank showed he had started the fight.

Miah, an unemployed first-time offender, pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

Ms Booth added that street violence "has to be taken seriously".