Jail for Keighley mosque teacher who kicked and slapped children

Sabir Hussain, 60, admitted four charges of assaulting boys at the Markazi Jamia Mosque, in. Keighley, West Yorkshire, as they learned The Koran.

He was arrested after secret filming was screened on a Channel 4 documentary earlier this year.

The assaults Hussain admitted happened on December 7 and December 13 last year, and involved four different boys.

Hussain, of Spencer Street, Keighley, appeared at Bradford Magistrates Court in traditional clothing and was led out of court in handcuffs after the sentence was passed.

He immediately lodged an appeal against his sentence but an application for bail was rejected.

The court was shown clips from the TV programme which was screened in February.

In one, Hussain is seen to walk up behind a line of boys sitting at prayer tables and kick one in the back. In other footage he is seen to kick other boys and slap one repeatedly.

District Judge Sue Bouch said she had heard how the boys involved were aged between 10 and 13.

Police have not yet been able to identify all of the children.

Ms Bouch said she had read a large number of character references about Hussain with some referring to him as “firm but fair” and a “pillar of the community”.

She told him: “It can be clearly seen on the footage that the children are flinching away from you. That suggests clearly to me, Mr Hussain, that the children were fearful.

“The assaults comprised of kicking to the body and hitting whilst those children remained sitting on the floor.

“You were in a position of responsibility. This is a gross breach of trust.

“All of these factors make the offence so serious that I can only pass a term of imprisonment.”

Earlier, Shufgat Khan, defending, said: “What he did was to chastise. He’s accepted the force used to chastise was not reasonable. But it’s a very different case from someone’s gratuitous use of force against vulnerable people.”

Mr Khan said his client worked in the textile industry in Bradford from 1967 to 2005.

He said he used to be employed by the mosque but was working as a volunteer teacher at the time of the incidents.

The barrister said Mr Hussain had an unblemished reputation until these incidents.

West Yorkshire Police said the investigation was supported by the Markazi Jamia Mosque along with Keighley Muslim Association and Bradford Council For Mosques.

Officers said they questioned why the production company that made the film did not report the assaults earlier.

In a joint statement, Chief Superintendent Ian Kennedy and Kath Tunstall, of Bradford Council’s Children’s Services Department, said: “It is important that our children are safe and free from harm, particularly so in educational establishments, and it does not matter whether that is a local authority school or classes held at a religious establishment.

“Their safety is a top priority for us and our partner agencies.

“We welcome today’s sentence which is an appropriate punishment for the acts together with a clear deterrent message that this is not acceptable in our society.”

It added: “Since these events came to light, we have been working closely with residents and partners to put in place improved safeguards to protect children in religious and faith schools.

“Whilst we welcome the work of the production company that brought these offences to light we do question their decision to wait until a number had been committed before they contacted us.

“Some of these assaults would have been avoidable if we had been informed earlier and been in a position to take positive action sooner rather than later.”