A Blackburn Mosque teacher who used torture techniques on pupils has been sentenced

A Blackburn mosque teacher who admitted using beatings and torture positions as a form of discipline was a “systematic bully”.

Father-of-two Irfan Patel (33) of Pelham Street, Blackburn, who trained as a teacher in India but has no formally recognised qualifications in the UK, admitted four counts of cruelty to a person under the age of 16 at Preston Crown Court and was sentenced to 40 weeks in prison, suspended for 18 months.

Preston Crown Court heard Patel used physical violence to discipline four boys during two-hour daily lessons when they misbehaved, made mistakes in their work or were unable to recite the Koran.

Patel, who has since become a “pariah” in his community, used to strike the children around the back of the head and neck as well as on the back with his fists during religious lessons and forced the children to adopt “awkward” positions, including the chicken position, a well known torture tactic used in war zones. Other positions included forcing the boys to crouch down while holding their ears and standing for long periods of time touching their toes.

He also admitted beating pupils between January and October 2011.

The court was told he had initially denied the offences and suggested his pupils were conspiring against him, before later confessing to the crimes. Judge Altham told Patel that lying to the police and accusing his four male victims aged just nine and 10 of conspiring against him made his behaviour even worse.

Judge Altham said Patel had been responsible for “serious and persistent offending while in a position of trust. The punishments used were not appropriate chastisement, it was assault and bullying and it is a crime. I hope that this case and other convictions of teachers for assaulting pupils in mosques will give young people and their parents the confidence to report this sort of bullying and ill treatment.”

Nazir Afzal, Chief Crown Prosecutor for the North West area, said: “Irfan Patel was in a position of trust to the children in his class and his actions went far beyond what was acceptable in disciplining those in his care. His treatment of the children to whom he was supposed to be providing spiritual teaching and guidance amounted to systematic bullying. They were very young boys who should have expected to be safe when they attended classes at the mosque.”

Judge Robert Altham QC, sentenced Patel to 40 weeks in prison suspended for 18 months, as well as making him the subject of an 18-month supervision order and a life ban on working with children.

He was also ordered to pay £1,200 in court costs.

An investigation by Social Services to see if Patel was fit to care for his two young daughters aged four and seven, found his children were happy, normal and well cared for.

Speaking after the hearing Sgt John Rigby, from Lancashire Police’s community cohesion unit, said: “All allegations of abuse involving young people are vigorously investigated by the police in co-operation with children services. On this occasion Irfan Patel fell below the high standards expected of a voluntary religious teacher in charge of young people. His guilty plea has avoided four young people all under the age of 11 having to give evidence at court. Lancashire Constabulary and Blackburn with Darwen Children Services continue to support and provide guidance to the voluntary sector teachers in protecting children.”

((*In my opinion, anyone who assaults and abuses children should automatically be sent to jail, no questions asked. An 18 month supervision order and suspended sentence is not enough! What kind of a message does this send out to people when you can abuse and assault children and walk free from a Crown Court? Note who the Chief Crown Prosecutor in this case was, I wonder if this has anything to do with the light sentencing of a child abuser?

How many Mosques up and down this country have Imams and teachers like him? Mr Patel has fetched his backward and barbaric teachings from India and is using these teachings in the U.K. Mosques are not regulated by OFSTED or any other governing body so this gives them free reign to do as they please.

Lancashire Social Services have also failed. They ran an investigation on Mr Patel to see if he was fit to care for his two young daughters. Their investigations state that his children were happy, normal and well cared for. I hope Lancashire Social Services keep a very close eye on Mr Patel because if he can abuse and assault children in a public Mosque then what is he capable of behind closed doors in his own home?*))

Lil Hunter.x