Southport continues to be plagued by Islamophobic incidents a year after the deadly knife attack that sparked race riots last year, the chairman of its mosque has revealed.
Imam Ibrahim Hussein, the chairman of Southport Mosque, said members had reported six incidents to the police since last July – a sharp increase from the three he said they had reported over the 30 years since they opened in the town.
The mosque in the seaside town found itself at the centre of nationwide riots last July, sparked by misinformation spread online following an attack at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport that killed three young girls.
Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, died, and eight more girls and two adults were left wounded when a knifeman stormed the class before being detained by police.
Mr Hussein said the memory of the attack was “in his head all the time” and he remembers how the community was hoping to support the families in any way possible.
“It doesn’t leave me for any one night. Of course, when the awful attack happened, we were devastated... We were hoping we could offer the family any support in any small way we could. Just being there and offering prayers.
“But we very quickly had reports come in saying we would be targeted.”
The mosque found itself at the centre of the Islamophobic rioting the evening after the attack, after false reports that the perpetrator was a Muslim asylum seeker.
“In the evening, it escalated very quickly into a big mob charging at us. We were trapped in from 8pm to just before 1am in the morning,” he recalled.
But the next day, the local community came out “in droves” to rebuild the mosque’s broken wall and offer support.
He said: “The response from the local community was more than great. We always knew we were on good terms with our neighbours, there has been nothing but mutual respect between us and on that morning they all came out in droves to support us and the muslim community.”
However, a year on, Mr Hussein said Southport’s small Muslim community continues to feel nervous amid rising Islamophobia.
He said: “In the last 30 years, since the mosque has been here, there were about three reported incidents – one every ten years on average.
“But in the last year, there have been six or seven incidents we’ve had to report. Islamophobia is going through the roof really – even though people now know we had nothing to do with anything.”
Incidents targeting Muslims in the area have included objects being thrown at the mosque as well as cars being scratched.
In June, it was reported that the back window of a mosque was damaged by an object suspected to have been thrown by a catapult.
“People are apprehensive and are feeling kind of worried. There is an undercurrent of something going on, but we can’t put our finger on it. So I’ve had to warn people to be vigilant and careful.”
He added how this had coincided with incidents across the country in recent weeks targeting asylum seekers and other mosques.
Last month, a 34-year-old man appeared in court over an attack on the Islamic Centre in Belfast. Police previously said a viable device was thrown through a window of the centre during evening prayer on Friday.
Last year, Tell Mama, a charity monitoring Islamophobic incidents, said a survey had found a majority of Muslims felt hate against them had become more widespread since the summer riots.
The organisation analysed the opinions of 750 Muslims across the UK eight weeks after the disorder broke out in parts of England and Northern Ireland.
Tell Mama said just under three-quarters (71 per cent) felt anti-Muslim hatred and Islamophobia had become more widespread since the unrest. Almost two-thirds (62 per cent) said the potential risk of harm to Muslim communities had since increased significantly or somewhat.
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