Pregnant Muslim lost baby in racist attack
A PREGNANT Muslim woman suffered a miscarriage after a racist thug kicked her in the stomach during a supermarket row, a court heard.
Jailing David Gallacher yesterday for three years and seven months for the attack, Judge Francis Sheridan described him as a “shabby racist” and told him: “This country will not bow to the views of racists.”
Gallacher attacked Samsam Haji-ali and her husband Abdullah Sulamain on Aug 6 last year. He approached Ms Haji-ali in a Co-op car park in Bletchley, Buckinghamshire, having verbally abused her in the store.
The 37-year-old racially abused her as she sat in the car, before kicking her in the stomach despite her shouting “I’m pregnant”. He then set upon Mr Sulamain, hitting him across the head.
Christopher Wing, prosecuting, said Gallacher told the expectant mother: “You come here with your clown outfit on, you f---ing people, you are the f---ing problem in this place”.
The court heard that when Mr Sulamain tried to calm Gallacher, he was hit across the head with a wine bottle and bag of ice. He received a four-inch cut, which required stitches.
Sentencing Gallacher, Judge Sheridan said: “[He] swung the bottle towards her before he kicked her. She told him she was pregnant and he continued to kick her again, after he was told she was pregnant.”
The woman was left rolling around on the floor in agony, and miscarried on Aug 24 last year.
The judge added: “This lady’s pregnancy was absolutely fine before she attended that shop and the defendant kicked her again in the stomach, having been told she was pregnant.
“There was a racial element to this attack. The defendant is a shabby racist on the language that he used towards this lady. She is left rolling around on the ground in agony and later found there is bleeding before she lost the baby.”
Judge Sheridan said he would leave it to others to decide whether the crown needed medical evidence to prove the link between the attack and the miscarriage, or whether common sense was enough. He said he was of the view that “the loss of that baby was a direct result of a kick to the stomach of a pregnant woman”.
Addressing Gallacher, he said: “You are a thug and a racist to boot. It is time you learnt that your vile conduct and abhorrent views are a thing of the past.”
The judge said he had not awarded compensation because he “simply could not put a price on the lost baby”.
Mr Wing told the court that, when questioned by police, Gallacher claimed he was not a racist because he “taught himself Muslim” and speaks to members of the Muslim community.
Gallacher, of no fixed address, appeared at Aylesbury Crown Court and spoke only to confirm his identity and plead guilty.
He admitted two counts of racially aggravated assault occasioning actual bodily harm, and three counts of assaulting a police officer during his arrest on Sept 14 last year. He was also sentenced to four months for the officer assaults.