Man guilty of setting two elderly Muslim worshippers on fire in horror attacks

A man who set fire to two elderly worshipper as they left evening prayers at UK mosques in two separate attacks has been found guilty.

Mohammed Abbkr has been found guilty of dousing the two pensioners in petrol and setting them alight in separate incidents a month apart in London and Birmingham. A jury previously heard the 29 year old attacked Hashi Odowa, 82, outside West Ealing Islamic Centre in London on February 27 and Mohammed Rayaz, 70, as he left Dudley Road Mosque in Summerfield, Birmingham on March 20.

Today at Birmingham Crown Court he was found guilty by jury. Horrifying CCTV footage showed the moment grandfather-of-10 Mr Rayaz was confronted as he walked home, before the petrol is thrown and he was set alight. The court heard Abbkr, a paranoid schizophrenic, allegedly first targeted Mr Odowa when he failed to recognise him, telling the pensioner: "I swear in the name of Allah you will know me."

Mohammed Abbkr, 29, (West Midlands Police)

The burned clothing of Mr Rayaz, one of the 29-year-old's victims (West Midlands Police)

Three weeks later he sprayed petrol on Mr Rayaz and left him "engulfed in flames from head to foot" because he did not speak Arabic, jurors were told. Abbkr admitted being the person responsible for setting both men alight but denied attempted murder and administering a destructive thing with intent to endanger life.

Footage released by West Midlands Police shows Abbkr arriving and praying at West London Islamic Centre, in Ealing, London ahead of the first incident on February 27. The video shows him following Mr Odowa out of the mosque. The next shot shows a fireball erupt on the street as Mr Odowa was set alight, causing burns to his ears and hands.

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The attack was caught on CCTV (SWNS)

CCTV from the Birmingham attack also captures both parties praying at Dudley Road Mosque on March 20. Abbkr then follows the victim along the streets at the end of prayers and can be heard asking Mr Rayaz whether he speaks Arabic. When he says he speaks Urdu and Punjabi, Mr Rayaz can then be seen being sprayed with a liquid from a bottle before being engulfed in a ball of flames. In a police interview, Mr Odowa told how he thought he was going to die after being covered with a light coloured liquid and having a lighter held to his neck.

Mr Odowa said: "The man said in Arabic 'I swear in the name of Allah in the name of God you will know me.' I felt like he wanted to threaten me. The man then got closer to me. I saw him shake the bottle. He was targeting my face and then he poured the petrol from top down. I put my hand up to my face. Then he lit the flame, it caught the left side of my face. I do not know what he used to start the fire with. I remember a big flame. I remember removing my jacket to get the flames off. My vest was on fire and I took it off."

Mohammed Abbkr during the trial (PA)

Mr Rayaz described in his police interview being attacked as he left Dudley Road mosque, where he had been a regular for 15 years. He said: "I never saw him come up behind me or from the right or left. He came in front of me and started to attack me. I tried to carry on. He had something in his hand and I wondered whether it was a knife and he was going to attack me with a knife. He just quickly threw something on me. The flames have gone up. I did not know what to do. I just tried to pull off my clothing. I was screaming for help but nobody came."

Mohammed Rayaz was set on fire (Family Handout / SWNS)

A bag recovered from Abbkr's address (West Midlands Police)

Nicholas de la Poer KC, prosecuting, told the court: "It is the prosecution case that the defendant intended to kill Mr Odowa and Mr Rayaz when he attacked them. The defendant has denied this and on his behalf it is contended that he was suffering from delusions at the time and had not intended to kill a human being."

"Mr Rayaz survived the defendant's attack but he was less fortunate than Mr Odowa. He suffered more serious burns, injuries particularly to his head. He was in hospital for a number of weeks following the attack. It is the prosecution case that when the defendant threw petrol on Mr Rayaz and set fire to him and then added further petrol to the flames, he was intending to kill him."

He added: "The defence's case is that it is more likely than not that the defendant meets the criteria for the defence of insanity. The prosecution does not agree." The court heard Abbkr came to the UK from Sudan in 2017 and was granted asylum in 2019. After his arrest, he was diagnosed as suffering from paranoid schizophrenia involving persecutory and religious delusions.

Abbkr, from Edgbaston, Birmingham, denied the charges against him. He will be sentenced on November 17.