Man who tried to stab Quran burner outside consulate spared jail

A man who attempted to stab someone outside the Turkish consulate in London has been spared jail.

Moussa Kadri, 59, confronted Hamit Coskun after seeing him set fire to a Quran. Coskun, 51, had also been shouting “Islam is a religion of terror.” Kadri initially approached and asked Coskun why he was burning the book, before saying “one sec, I’m coming back” and returning with a knife.

Kadri then slashed at Coskun multiple times before pushing him to the ground. He kicked him in the stomach and spat on him, shouting: “This is my religion. You don’t burn the Quran.”

Kadri pleaded guilty to assault and possession of a bladed article in a public place. He was sentenced by Judge Adam Hiddleston to a 20-week prison term, suspended for 18 months. This means he will not face jail unless he commits another offence or breaches the terms of his sentence within that period. He was also ordered to complete 150 hours of unpaid work and attend 10 days of rehabilitation activity.

Coskun, who burned the Quran, was convicted in June of a religiously aggravated public order offence. His appeal was rejected by the judge, who described his actions as “highly provocative” and said he was “motivated at least in part by a hatred of Muslims.”

Since the incident, Coskun has reportedly faced death threats and has been moved to a safe house.

The altercation has reignited debate over free speech, with critics arguing that Coskun’s prosecution effectively amounts to a reintroduction of blasphemy laws in Britain. Meanwhile, the absence of a custodial sentence for Kadri has been viewed by some as signalling that retaliatory violence is permissible.

The National Secular Society, which campaigns for the separation of religion and state, has supported Coskun in the case.

The controversy comes at a time when the UK is adopting an increasingly restrictive stance on speech, with custodial sentences regularly imposed for “offensive” online content under the Communications Act 2003 and the Malicious Communications Act. In 2023 alone, there were 12,183 arrests under these laws—an average of 33 per day.

(Photo by Sdrawkcab at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=39848660)