The leader of a Brighton mosque and father of three jihadists who fought with Islamist groups in Syria dislocated a woman’s shoulder whilst trying to “get the demon out”, a court has heard.
Abubaker Deghayes, 49, of the Masjid Al Quds mosque is facing one count of assault causing Actual Bodily Harm (ABH) and one count of intimidating a witness, reports Court News.
The alleged victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, claims she was assaulted by Deghayes in May 2017 when he came to her flat and forced her from her sofa onto the floor, pushing her face into the ground.
“He was not normal. He said he was ‘making the demon come out’. He said he wanted the demon to come out because that was what was upsetting me.
“He had his legs on my back and with his hand he pulled strongly on my shoulder. I was just saying ‘stop, stop, there’s no demon’,” the woman told the court.
In October, it is alleged that the mosque leader returned to her flat and intimidated her after she had reported the alleged assault to the police. Officers arrived shortly after and arrested Deghayes. He denies all charges.
Mr. Deghayes is no stranger to the courtroom, having been acquitted in March after being accused of punching a worshipper at Ramadan in June 2017 during an altercation involving parking outside the Brighton mosque.
During the trial, Deghayes was exempted from standing when magistrates left the courtroom as his Muslim faith forbade him from standing “for anybody else other than god”.
Like Manchester Arena suicide bomber Salman Abedi’s parents, Deghayes is a migrant who left Libya because of his anti-Gaddafi political views.
Abubaker Deghayes’ brother Omar was released from the U.S. detention centre Guantanamo Bay in 2007 after being held there for five years as an enemy combatant. Omar was granted refugee status in the UK, The Guardian reported at the time.
The mosque leader has appeared in the media several times after his three sons were radicalised and had left the UK to fight with terror groups in Syria.
Abdullah, 18, was killed fighting in Syria in 2016 and his younger brother Jaffar, 17, was killed in October 2014. His eldest son, Amer, is still alive and is believed to be living in Libya.
Asked shortly after his death whether he thought his son Abdullah was a martyr, Abubaker Deghayes replied: “Of course I think, as a Muslim, that my son is a martyr. Anyone who dies for a just cause is a martyr.”
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