Remember Ian Brazier, the guy who used the antiquated reefer madness defense when he was being tried for ripping off a Muslim woman’s veil, well, he’s been spared jail time. I guess we can be thankful that he at least wasn’t on bath-salts:
Man who ripped off Muslim woman’s veil spared jail
A man who ripped off a Muslim woman’s veil in a shopping centre because he thought she was “just another illegal immigrant” has been spared jail.
Ian Brazier, from Shirley, Solihull, was given a six-week sentence, suspended for 18 months, and ordered to complete a diversity awareness course by magistrates in the town. The 26-year-old had admitted racially aggravated assault at an early hearing.
The court heard that he tore Farhana Chughtai’s niqab from her face and threw it on the floor in Solihull’s Touchwood complex on March 3 as she shopped with family.
Alan Bryce, defending, said his client was angry at the time of the incident because he had been smoking cannabis and the films he was planning to watch at the centre’s cinema were not showing. He said: “He was angry that he couldn’t see the films or the films he wanted to see weren’t there. All these pent-up emotions were unfortunately released when he saw this lady.”
The solicitor said Mrs Chughtai was a “random victim”, spotted by unemployed Mr Brazier as he came down an escalator in the complex. He said: “He had been taking cannabis and it had made him angry. He saw her and he thought ‘There’s just another illegal immigrant’.”
