Teenagers arrested over attack on mosque

Eleven teenagers were arrested after the windows of one mosque were damaged when a party spiralled out of control in Grimsby.

A burning bottle was hurled at another mosque in the Buckinghamshire town of Bletchley while members were inside at prayers.

Both of the incidents happened late on Thursday night and followed the targeting of mosques in Kent and Essex the previous evening.

Police in Lincolnshire are investigating whether the attack on the Grimsby mosque was racially motivated.

Chief Insp Will Jenkins said: “We arrested 11 young people aged between 16 and 17 years old after being called to the Legsby Avenue area where damage had been caused to the windows of a local mosque and also a number of vehicles parked up at the time.

“Those arrested had been drinking at a nearby house party and were seemingly left to their own devices which resulted in the party getting out of hand.”

Thames Valley Police said a bottle containing flammable liquid was hurled onto the roof of Bletchley’s Zainabia Islamic Centre at about 11.30pm on Thursday. Members of the mosque managed to quickly extinguish the resulting fire and there was no significant damage.

Lincolnshire Police yesterday charged a 22-year-old man on suspicion of making malicious comments on Facebook following Drummer Rigby’s murder.

Benjamin Flatters, of Epsom Close, Lincoln, was arrested Thursday after complaints were made about comments made on Facebook and he was charged with an offence of malicious communications. A second man was warned about his activity on social media.

In Bristol, two men, aged 22 and 23, have been bailed following their arrest for making alleged offensive comments on Twitter about the murder.