Kashif Samuels has been jailed for 16 weeks for throwing a Turkish pensioner’s Zimmer frame off a bus during a shocking Islamophobic rant.
Samuels, 25, was travelling towards Tottenham, north London, when he began to hurl abuse at the Muslim man sat across the aisle from him on the 149 service.
Video footage posted on social media showed Samuels, who was with his two-year-old daughter at the time, accusing the Turkish man of coming to this country for “free benefits.”
He tells the pensioner to “go back to his own country” before shouting: ‘I’ll put a pig’s c*** in your mouth – what’s Allah going to say about that?”
The clip ends as he tells stunned passengers to “vote Ukip” before grabbing the pensioner’s Zimmer frame and chucking it down the road on October 15.
Samuels apologised for his “monstrous” behaviour after admitting a racially aggravated public order offence last month.
He handed himself in to police when he saw the video online and was sentenced at Highbury Magistrates’ Court in north London yesterday.
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Samuels was arrested after millions of people viewed the footage on YouTube in which he makes several lewd references to his victim’s family and religion, continuing for more than three minutes as shocked passengers sat in silence.
Magistrates were told Samuels committed the offence while on bail for a similar public order offence, which was not racially motivated, involving a bus driver back in January this year.
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Prosecutor Michael Mallon said: “Having referred to the footage it speaks for itself. The victim was not able to be traced. It is clear however, and he accepted in interview, that the victim was vulnerable. He was an elderly Turkish gentleman.
“There are a number of aggravating features to this matter. Namely that Mr Samuels was there with his two-year old daughter in a pram. This was committed while he was on bail for the first matter. There are a large number of other individuals on the bus.
“It is telling, in my submission, they didn’t intervene given the amount of aggression, there was a very real fear they could come to harm.”
Speaking for Samuels, Dan O’Callaghan said before the start of the footage the Turkish man is said to have called Samuels a “black animal” and had refused to move his Zimmer frame from the pram area of the bus.
He also told the court Samuels was “now living in fear since the video went viral” and had to move out of his mother’s home because of “threats from the Muslim community.”
Mr O’Callaghan said Samuels had admitted he had anger issues and had been through a difficult break up with the mother of his daughter.
In sentencing panel chair Melvyn Bryant said: “This was a vulnerable victim, it was a prolonged incident, you had your child present with you, there were other persons present on a bus which is a public place, and you were also on bail.
“However it becomes worse. You targeted someone who is Turkish and Muslim and you throw his Zimmer frame through the door.”
Gerallt Evans, deputy chief crown prosecutor for CPS London, said: “This case has quite rightly caused shock and outrage among the general public. Kashif Samuels used abusive anti-Muslim and racist language against the victim and caused distress and alarm to the other passengers on the bus.
“Not only did he shout and swear at the victim but also threw the victim’s walking frame from the bus when it came to a halt. This appalling outburst was caught on camera by a public-spirited fellow passenger and left Samuels no choice but to plead guilty.
“Hate crime of any kind will not be tolerated in London. Members of the public should be able to travel on the city’s transport network without fear of violence, abuse or harassment and we will continue to work with our police partners to bring those that commit these crimes to justice.”
