Mick Hartley

This story hasn't had the coverage it deserves. From the JC:

Three men who kidnapped and brutally assaulted an Israeli Jewish man with both the intention to extort him for money and because of his Jewish heritage, have received over eight years imprisonment.

Appearing in Swansea Crown Court on Friday, the three men, Faiz Shah, 22, from Bradford, Mohammad Comrie, 23, from Leeds, and Elinaj Ogunnubi-Sime, 20, from Croydon, were each given a sentence of eight years and one month for the premeditated assault in August last year.

The victim, Itay Kashti, a London-based music producer and composer, was lured to a remote Airbnb rented by the trio in Carmanthenshire, west Wales on the pretence of working with musicians, only to be “immediately assaulted” upon entering. The court heard how Kashti was kicked, punched and handcuffed to a radiator by the three men, who had used a false identity to gain his trust….

The court heard that in addition to financial motivation for the kidnapping and assault, there was a “clear political and religious motivation.”

“Anyone listening to this case would be horrified by what they heard and by the motivation behind it,” Judge Richards said, adding the defendants “seemed to justify action against the victim in this case based on his background as if he was less worthy of your respect and compassion, and [that is] utterly abhorrent to any right-thinking person.”

Kashti suffered injuries to his face and head, including a swollen eyelid which wouldn’t open for several days, a cut on his scalp, pain in his legs for weeks after, and bruised knees and upper back. The trio threatened to kill Kashti if he tried to escape.

After assaulting him, they handcuffed him to a radiator but, once they were out of the room, he managed to free himself, locate his phone – which had been taken from him – and escape….

In a statement from Kashti read out by the prosecuting lawyer Craig Jones, the court heard how he was in “complete shock and fear and felt as though he was going to end up dead.”

“As an Israeli Jew, this was my own personal October 7,” Kashti said in his victim impact statement, going on to say that October 7 “was flashing through my mind” as he was restrained. Jones said Kashti also said he was thinking about his “Jewish ancestors who suffered in the Holocaust” during the ordeal….

They conspired to keep the motivations for the kidnapping “clean” and only about the money to make it appear as “a non-politically motivated kidnap”.

Simi wrote that if Kashti were to realise “the Islamic angle, the eventual retaliation and effort into retaliation is 10 times worse.”

“We shouldn’t colour this as an Islamic thing. Don’t say Islamic phrases around him, so we’re just in it for the money,” the messages said, as read by Prosecutor Jones.

Intended to act as “inspiration” for the crime, pinned to the top of the Telegram group chat was an Islamic “litany for victory”, which they suggested they recite or listen to every day while “keeping in mind your intention of jihad,” the prosecution said.

Assuring the group, Simi messaged: “All three of us have complete 100 per cent faith in Allah, so we can’t fail.”

Ha!