Awwwwwk-ward. Moderate until he wasn’t. How did he come to misunderstand his new, peaceful religion after understanding it so well before?
“Convert who protested outside Parliament over Syrian airstrikes with poster saying ‘I am a Muslim… do you trust me enough for a hug?’ now faces jail for threatening to bomb MP’s house,” MailOnline, December 7, 2015 (thanks to Pamela Geller):
- Muslim convert Craig Wallace, 23, admitted sending malicious messages
- Wrote on Facebook that he would bomb Tory MP Charlotte Leslie's house
- Called her a 'dirty pig-f****** w***' day after she voted in favour of airstrikes
- Court heard he has mental health issues but hadn't been taking medication
A Muslim convert who protested outside Parliament with a sign saying 'I am Muslim, do you trust me enough for a hug?' is facing jail for threatening to bomb an MP's house.
Craig Wallace used the sign as Stop The War protesters came to Westminster for the vote on military action in Syria last week.
It stated: 'I am Muslim, I am labelled a terrorist, I trust you, do you trust me enough for a hug?'
But the 23-year-old, of Willesden Green, north London, is now facing a possible prison sentence after he threatened Tory MP Charlotte Leslie online following the vote.
Wallace, who calls himself Muhammad Mujahid Islam online, wrote on Facebook: 'I'm going to smash her windows then drop a bomb on her house while she's tucked up in bed.
You dirty f****** pig-s******* s***.'
Shortly before he sent the messages he also posed for a series of pictures with strangers carrying a placard that read: 'I am Muslim, I am labelled a terrorist, I trust you, do you trust me enough for a hug?'
On December 3, the day after MPs voted to authorise the air strikes, he wrote: 'I'm going to find her and show her what it's like to murder innocents. You dirty pig-f****** w****.'
He also described shadow foreign secretary Hilary Benn as a 'war criminal' and a 'terrorist' the day after the Commons vote to bomb Syria.
His defence lawyer Abu Sayeed said Wallace had posted the messages after he had been out protesting against the Syrian bombing vote for 'two or three days and had very little sleep and had not taken his medication.'
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Wallace has a string of convictions for violent offences including possession of a knife.
He converted to Islam while in prison serving a sentence of almost five years for attempted robbery.
Three weeks after he was released he posted the messages on a thread of comments on the UK Truth Movement Facebook page.
Wallace today pleaded guilty to sending threatening communications at Hendon Magistrates' Court.
MP Charlotte Leslie (pictured) was threatened online by Wallace who wrote a series of vile messages in which he threatened to kill her
Wearing a white traditional Islamic dress and a grey jumper slung over his shoulders, he spoke only to confirm his name and address before entering a guilty plea.
He was remanded in custody and will be sentenced on December 30.
The court heard the messages came to light after Ms Leslie's father saw the comments online and reported them to police.
Wallace claimed he was 'venting his anger' and had not had any sleep because he had been 'protesting for two or three days'.
District Judge Mark Jabbitt said: 'What's absolutely clear is that your language and expressions about this MP Ms Leslie, who you have no knowledge of, went beyond any sort of legitimate comment or protest on an extremely serious issue.
'What you did was personalised it and used really the most vile, insulting and threatening language imaginable on a forum.'
Wallace also posted these menacing messages on his Facebook feed around the time of the vote on Syria
He ordered a full risk assessment report on Wallace and expressed concern that he was not being formally supervised after his release from prison.
Abu Sayeed, defending, said Wallace has mental health issues and had not been taking his anti-psychotic medication.
'He has co-operated fully with the police and expressed remorse and regret,' he added. 'He made the comments to vent his anger.
'Mr Wallace is a Muslim convert, he converted while serving his last sentence.
He feels very passionately about the bombing in Syria and the vote recently taken in Parliament.
'He had been out with other protesters and was protesting for two or three days and not had much sleep and hadn't taken his medication.'
Wallace has never met Ms Leslie and thought the page was a 'closed group', Mr Sayeed said.
'In the current climate people would have been fearful of his comments,' he added.
Wallace calls himself Muhammad Mujahid Islam on Facebook and wrote: 'I'm going to smash her windows then drop a bomb on her house while she's tucked up in bed. You dirty f****** pig-s******* s***'
Wallace, whose mother died when he was young and who claims his father abused him as a child, had attended an anti-war rally outside Parliament on the day of the Syria vote and was pictured carrying a giant white poppy.
Shortly before he sent the messages he also posed for a series of pictures with strangers carrying a placard that read: 'I am Muslim, I am labelled a terrorist, I trust you, do you trust me enough for a hug?'.
The day after the vote Wallace sent Mr Benn an email, which he then posted on his Facebook page.
It said: 'I hope to God that you will have nightmares when you hear that kids woman and men have been murdered by your govt.'
The court heard Wallace had been in and out of custody since he was 13 after being expelled from school following the death of his mother when he was eight.
The judge warned Wallace the maximum sentence for the offence was six months.
Wallace, of Teignmouth Road, Willesden Green was remanded into custody, while risk assessments reports were carried out.
He is next appear at Willesden Magistrates court for sentencing on December 30.
A number of other MPs, many of them in the Labour Party, have complained to police that they had received death threats after voting in favour of airstrikes on Islamic State in Syria.
Neil Coyle, the MP for Bermondsey and Old Southwark, said police had stationed extra officers outside his surgery after he received an apparent death threat on social media, while Labour Rochdale MP Simon Danczuk has spoken out about receiving an apparent death threat on Facebook after he voted in favour of the military action.
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