Riot yob spat in Muslim woman's face

POLISH PROTESTER SPARED JAIL FOR 'ABHORRENT A ACTIONS' IN PICCADILLY GARDENS

- JOHN SCHEERHOUT

A MAN has escaped a prison sentence after he was captured spitting in the face of a Muslim woman during a riot in Piccadilly Gardens.

Michal Tomaszewski left his victim feeling 'violated, degraded and dehumanised' after joining what a judge described as an 'abhorrent' attack by a 'mob.

The 32-year-old, from Poland, joined a group hurling abuse at three Muslim women, all wearing hijabs, during last summer's violent protest in Manchester city centre on August 3.

He joined the protest which followed the murder of three children in Southport five days earlier and the 'hype' surrounding the crime on social media, prosecutor Gavin Howie told Manchester Crown Court yesterday.

His victim was a British Muslim woman who was wearing a hijab head covering and a scarf representing Palestine who had been out shopping and had not realised a protest was to take place, said Mr Howie.

Encountering the protest in Piccadilly Gardens, the woman said she was abused by what she believed were members of the English Defence League, although the prosecutor stressed that the police investigation had never established that the EDL had been part of that day's protests in the city's main civic square.

The woman, who was with two other Muslim women, recalled hearing shouts of 'stop the boats, 'go back home, said the prosecutor. The woman later told police the shouts were 'horrific.