Man jailed for life after running over Muslim woman in Leicester

A man has been jailed for life for ramming his car into one woman and trying to hit a schoolgirl in a series of Islamophobic hate crimes he intended as a retaliation for terrorist attacks carried out by Islamist extremists in the UK.

Paul Moore had shown no remorse over the attacks, the judge said, as he sentenced him to a 20-year minimum term for attempted murder, attempted grievous bodily harm with intent and dangerous driving at Nottingham crown court on Tuesday.

Zaynab Hussein, 47, sustained serious fractures to her leg, arm, pelvis and spine during the assault, in which Moore drove a car on to the pavement and hit her from behind, before turning it around and driving over her again.

Shortly afterwards, he drove the car at his second victim, a 12-year-old Muslim girl walking to school, knocking her bag out of her hand.

Both were targeted because they were wearing Islamic clothing, the judge said.

The court also heard that, after the incident, the 21-year-old from Leicester told friends the attacks were in retaliation for terrorist attacks in the UK.

He also told a relative he intended to target Muslims and was seen laughing during the attack. In carrying it out, Moore saw himself as doing “the country a favour”, the court heard.

“The courage of your victims, and the compassion and courage of all those who came to the aid of Mrs Hussein in different ways – and who notably come from across the diverse range of this local community – stand in stark contrast to your wickedness that morning,” Mr Justice Soole told Moore .

“All pedestrians were at risk from you that morning. However, the fact remains that you ultimately launched your assault on those who were in Islamic clothing.

“Your intention to kill Mrs Hussein was underlined by your wicked decision to return for a second assault with the car. It was only luck and her quick thinking that saved your second intended victim from injury.

Days before Moore’s attack in September, Ahmed Hassan had planted a bomb on a tube train at Parsons Green station, in south-west London – a fact that was “no coincidence”, Jonathan Straw, prosecuting, told Moore’s trial.

“Paul Moore’s actions were undoubtedly fuelled by his hatred of Muslims and the intent to kill his first victim was clear,” said Janine Smith, of the Crown Prosecution Service, after the sentence was passed.

“Moore had expressed a desire to run someone over and the evidence was clear that his motivation for attacking these victims was hostility towards their ethnicity and perceived religion. We are clear that this was a hate crime and invited the judge to uplift and increase the sentence. He therefore placed this in the highest possible sentencing bracket.”

In a victim impact statement, Hussein said she remained incapacitated since the incident. “I don’t understand why someone would want to hurt me, especially somebody I have never met.”