Anglican priest, Canon Michael Ainsworth, beaten up in ‘faith hate’ incident
Jonathan Milne, The Sunday Times
An Anglican priest has been beaten up and insulted in what appears to be a “faith hate” assault by Asian youths.
Police are looking for three men after the attack in east London in which Canon Michael Ainsworth, 57, http://www.wvwnews.net/story.php?id=3583 of St George-in-the-East, Shadwell, was attacked in his own churchyard after approaching the youths, who were behaving rowdily.
Two of the three attacked him, inflicting cuts, bruises and two black eyes. The assailants are also alleged to have http://www.wvwnews.net/story.php?id=3411 for his occupation.
“The suspects are http://www.wvwnews.net/story.php?id=2837 introduced last year, it is an offence to stir up hatred against someone on grounds of their religion.
A parishioner raised the alarm after the attack on March 5, but the youths had fled by the time police arrived.
“There was blood everywhere,” a parishioner told the East London Advertiser. “All the church members are in shock over what happened. Our canon is such a nice man who has done so much for the parish. It’s been very upsetting.”
Ainsworth was admitted to the nearby Royal London hospital after the attack, was released and returned a week later. He is still in hospital under observation.
Alan Green, area dean for http://www.wvwnews.net/story.php?id=2158 and chair of the local inter-faith forum, said the church was working with the council and police to ensure the safety of its ministers and members of the public in areas such as churchyards.
“We take any assault against members of the clergy very seriously and have had excellent support from the local police on this matter,” he said.
He said officers were correct to handle any incident involving an element of abusive faith-related language as a faith hate crime, in order to protect people of all faiths.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article3558715.ece