A man has been sentenced to five years and three months in a young offenders institution after he stabbed a volunteer guarding the door at a Cardiff mosque with a six-inch Rambo knife.
Luke Thomas, 20, had previously pleaded guilty to possessing an offensive weapon and wounding with intent to inflict grievous bodily harm.
Cardiff Crown Court heard that Thomas and his younger brother Liam, 18, had cycled past Dar-Ul-Isra Mosque just after 1.20am on Sunday, June 2, which was during Ramadan.
They shouted obscenities at the worshippers gathered outside and then attacked the men on the door. They were both very drunk.
Members of the mosque used chairs to defend themselves and one was stabbed in the upper abdomen and a cut to his thigh. He needed a number of stitches, according to the prosecution. Another victim had grazes to his arms.
The pair were chased and detained by members of the mosque before the police arrested them.
The defence barrister said Liam Thomas was being “manhandled” and Luke Thomas thought he was being assaulted, and it was in this context that Luke Thomas used the knife.
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Liam Thomas, who admitted affray, was given an 18-month sentence suspended for 18 months. He had previously denied common assault and assault occasioning actual bodily harm. The Crown added a further count of affray and he pleaded guilty.
Judge Nicola Jones noted the brothers were not charged with a racially aggravated offence, but said she could not ignore the fact the offending happened outside a mosque in Ramadan.
She told the court: “This took place outside a place of worship on one of the most holy days for that religion. Clearly it would have been terrifying for those inside with vulnerable people present, including women and children.
“But I accept these were the actions of drunken intoxicated louts. I accept they were not racially or religiously motivated.”
