Man who wrote ‘kill jews’ on cell wall found guilty of hate crimes
Ibrahim Iqbal, 36, will be sentenced on February 16 at Leeds District Magistrates’ Court
A man who scrawled “kill jews” on a cell wall with crayons after he was arrested for stuffing pages from the Koran down a hospital toilet has been found guilty of hate crimes, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has said.
Ibrahim Iqbal, 36, from Leeds, was found guilty of two counts of religiously aggravated criminal damage and another count of criminal damage at Leeds District Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday, the CPS confirmed.
The CPS said the conviction comes as prosecutors deal with a record number of hate crime referrals.
A spokesman said Iqbal smashed a framed Islamic scripture before defacing multiple Korans in a multi-faith room at St James’s Hospital in Leeds, in November last year.
He tore out pages, setting them alight and using them to block the sink and toilet.
Iqbal then returned to the hospital two weeks later and deliberately stuffed items down the drains to cause a blockage, the spokesman said.
He was detained by hospital security staff when he returned the following day and attempted to access the multi-faith room again but found it locked due to the earlier damage.
After he was arrested, he asked for crayons and used them to write the “kill Jews” on his cell wall, the spokesman said.
Iqbal will be sentenced at the same court on 16 February.
Senior Crown Prosecutor for CPS Yorkshire and Humberside Luke Hopkinson said: “Ibrahim Iqbal carried out a deliberate and sustained campaign of hatred, targeting both Muslim and Jewish communities with his actions.
“This comes at a time where our prosecutors are working on the highest ever number of hate crime cases referred to us by police.
“I hope today’s conviction demonstrates the CPS’s commitment to tackling religiously aggravated hate crime, and reiterate how we will always seek to prosecute those who target others because of their faith where their conduct strays into criminality.”
The CPS said data for July to September 2025 showed it received 4,358 cases from police which have been flagged as having a hate crime element, which is a 14.7% increase on the previous quarter, and 2.8% up on the same period in 2024.
Thank you for helping to make Jewish News the leading source of news and opinion for the UK Jewish community. Today we're asking for your invaluable help to continue putting our community first in everything we do.
For as little as £5 a month you can help sustain the vital work we do in celebrating and standing up for Jewish life in Britain.
Jewish News holds our community together and keeps us connected. Like a synagogue, it’s where people turn to feel part of something bigger. It also proudly shows the rest of Britain the vibrancy and rich culture of modern Jewish life.
You can make a quick and easy one-off or monthly contribution of £5, £10, £20 or any other sum you’re comfortable with.
100% of your donation will help us continue celebrating our community, in all its dynamic diversity...
Engaging
Being a community platform means so much more than producing a newspaper and website. One of our proudest roles is media partnering with our invaluable charities to amplify the outstanding work they do to help us all.
Celebrating
There’s no shortage of oys in the world but Jewish News takes every opportunity to celebrate the joys too, through projects like Night of Heroes, 40 Under 40 and other compelling countdowns that make the community kvell with pride.
Pioneering
In the first collaboration between media outlets from different faiths, Jewish News worked with British Muslim TV and Church Times to produce a list of young activists leading the way on interfaith understanding.
Campaigning
Royal Mail issued a stamp honouring Holocaust hero Sir Nicholas Winton after a Jewish News campaign attracted more than 100,000 backers. Jewish Newsalso produces special editions of the paper highlighting pressing issues including mental health and Holocaust remembrance.
Easy access
In an age when news is readily accessible, Jewish News provides high-quality content free online and offline, removing any financial barriers to connecting people.
Voice of our community to wider society
The Jewish News team regularly appears on TV, radio and on the pages of the national press to comment on stories about the Jewish community. Easy access to the paper on the streets of London also means Jewish News provides an invaluable window into the community for the country at large.
We hope you agree all this is worth preserving.
