City man accused of attack on Sikh temple now faces murder bid charge
A 31-YEAR-OLD Derby man who is alleged to have broken into a Normanton Sikh temple before stabbing a man in a shop has now been charged with attempted murder.
Mohammed Ibrar, wearing a prison-issue grey sweatshirt and assisted by an Urdu interpreter, spoke only to confirm his name over video link from Nottingham Prison for the hearing at Derby Crown Court.
The court was told a psychiatrist had assessed him on behalf of his defence team and that a second psychiatrist, instructed by the prosecution, would now need to do the same.
No pleas have yet been entered to the more serious charge he faces and a new trial date was set.
Judge Shaun Smith QC said: “The defence have now provided a new psychiatric report from a Dr Salim and in it he talks about possible defences. That means the prosecution will need to get their own psychiatrist to see Mr Ibrar.
“That means that the trial in November is cancelled and the new trial date is February 15 of next year.
“We are going to come back to court [for a pre-trial review] on December 4 and in the meantime he has to stay in prison.”
Judge Smith added that the trial was expected to last up to five days.
Ibrar, of Cromwell Road, Normanton, initially faced charges of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and burglary in relation to the incidents, which he is alleged to have committed on the morning of May 25.
He is claimed to have broken into the Guru Arjan Dev Sikh Gurdwara in Stanhope Street before minutes later police received a call saying that a man had been stabbed inside the Polanica shop, in Normanton Road. On arrival, officers found a 41-year-old man with injuries. The man was taken to the Queen’s Medical Centre for treatment and was later discharged.
In a statement released the following day, Chief Superintendent David Cox said: “I know this is a very upsetting incident not only because this is a place of worship but the alleged actions of the individual involved have a wider impact across the community.
“I am taking this incident very seriously and I have a team of detectives who are working through the full circumstances of what has taken place.
“As this investigation progresses I hope we will gain a clearer understanding of what happened.
“This was a challenging incident to respond to with multiple scenes and multiple calls for service within minutes. I would like to thank those members of the community who assisted the police.”
In the days following the incident, the Sikh and Muslim communities in Derby issued a statement of solidarity.
A post put up on the Derby Jamia Mosque Facebook page said both faiths “condemned the senseless acts without reservation”.
Part of it said: “Desecration of places of worship is unacceptable and can never be justified nor condoned. The Muslim and Sikh communities have been living together in Derby in peace and harmony for many years. These types of senseless acts will not separate us. The actions of individuals do not represent our communities. “
The statement was signed by the Sri Guru Arjan Dev Ji Gurdwara; Derby Jamia Mosque; Sri Guru Singh Sabha Gurdwara; Islamic Centre; AlFarooq Masjid; Guru Ravidass Gurdwara; Pakistan Community Centre; Ramgharia Sabha Gurdwara and the Indian Community Centre.