- Mohammad Liaqat racially abused teachers at his child's Catholic school
- Muslim father, 34, was furious that pupils were not allowed to grow beards
- Liaqat continued tirade at another school and shoulder barged headmaster
- He was found guilty of racially-aggravated behaviour and assault
Mohammad Liaqat launched into a 'racist tirade' after Mount Carmel School headteacher Xavier Bowers (pictured) banned Muslim pupils from growing beards
A Muslim father stormed into a Catholic school and launched a tirade of racial abuse at teachers after two teenage pupils were banned from lessons for refusing to shave their beards.
Mohammad Liaqat even assaulted the headmaster during the rampage in which he hurled insults at white teachers in front of shocked parents as they picked up their children.
The 34-year-old objected to the strict uniform policy at Mount Carmel High School which stated that pupils could not have beards.
Liaqat launched into a 'racist tirade' at white members of staff after 14-year-old boys were told they could not keep their facial hair, police said.
After being arrested, Liaqat was told to stay away from the school, so went to another school nearby where he continued his rant.
When Jeff Brown, headmaster of St Oswald's Roman Catholic Primary School, asked him to move on, Liaqat shoulder barged him, Burnley Crown Court was told.
He has a child at the secondary school in Accrington, Lancashire, but was not related to the two 14-year-olds who wanted to have facial hair for religious reasons.
Liaqat launched his first outburst even though the situation involving the students’ beards had already been resolved at Mount Carmel.
During a three-day trial this week, Liaqat was found guilty of one count of assault and five counts of racially or religiously aggravated behaviour. He was remanded into custody at Burnley Crown Court and will be sentenced in June.
Mount Carmel school said the ruling on beards was part of the school's dress code, but the 14-year-olds wanted to keep their facial hair for religious reasons.
After being taught in isolation for breaking the school rules, Mount Carmel governors decided that the students could keep their beards so long as they signed up to a programme at their mosque to show their faith.
After the trial, Xavier Bowers, headteacher at Mount Carmel said: 'We are pleased that justice has been done in this instance.
'My staff were simply doing their job at the time, supervising our children leaving school and making sure they were safe.
'Without provocation, they were verbally assaulted and abused in front of the children and parents.
'We always try to work towards good relationships with our families.
This was an unfortunate incident, but we can now draw a line under it and move on. We are largely a happy school and we have good relationships with our local community.'
Mr Brown, from St Oswald's school, said: 'I am glad this matter has now been concluded and I am looking forward to getting back to concentrating on school life.'
PC Dave Hall, from the hate crime and cohesion unit at Lancashire Police, said: 'Ultimately, the issue at Mount Carmel was amicably resolved, but Liaqat decided to take it upon himself to stage his own personal protest.
'He racially abused several of the school staff and he kept referring to Mount Carmel as a racist school.
He went on a racist tirade towards the white members of staff. He made it quite clear he was deeply upset.
'After being arrested, he was released on bail. He decided to vent his fury at St Oswald's Primary. 'He had reason to be there but not to behave in the way he did.
'Liaqat was causing problems, which led to the headteacher asking him to leave the premises. He reacted by racially abusing staff there and assaulting the head.
'What he did was completely unacceptable. Whatever his motives, we cannot accept this kind of behaviour.'
Liaqat was remanded in custody and will be sentenced in June.
Although growing a beard is not obligatory under Islam, Mohammed is thought to have had one and worshippers seek to emulate this tradition.
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