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A group of Jewish men walking to synagogue in Salford, England, near Manchester, were targeted on Wednesday by an assailant shouting antisemitic abuse and threats.
The attacker, 65-year-old Wayne Kelly, told the Jewish passersby he was going home to get knives to use against them. He then threw off his jacket and lunged at one of the Jewish men with clenched fists. A Jewish bystander stepped in and stopped him.
Police arrested Kelly at the scene. As officers led him away, he directed further invective at a Jewish child nearby.
One of the victims recognized Kelly from a previous encounter in March 12. Kelly had hammered on his car window and screamed antisemitic slurs at him in the street.
On Friday, Kelly pleaded guilty at Manchester Magistrates Court. He admitted racially-aggravated common assault and four additional hate crime charges. These included two counts each of racially aggravated intentional harassment and racially aggravated harassment.
Chief Crown Prosecutor Sarah Hammond said Kelly had “hurled vile antisemitic abuse at Jewish men who were on their way to a synagogue.” She added that he had made references to historic atrocities against Jewish people.
Salford Police Superintendent Yanica Weir said her force would “not tolerate this kind of behavior and intimidation against any members of our community.”
The guilty plea came days after the Crown Prosecution Service published revised hate crime charging guidelines. The agency linked the change to a sustained rise in antisemitic attacks across Britain.
Take Action
CAM has launched Report It — a secure app to report antisemitic incidents anonymously and in real time. Don’t stay silent — download it today on the Apple Store or Google Play. See it. Report it. Stop it. Together, we can fight this hate.
