Ex-soldier 'banned from every mosque in Wales'

An ex-soldier has been banned from every mosque in Wales and England after attempting to set fire to one upon hearing of the death of drummer Lee Rigby.

John Parkin, who had consumed 15 pints of alcohol, stuffed tissue into a bottle of beer and tried to light it at the mosque in Rhyl.

Prosecutor David Mainstone said Parkin had made a 'serious threat' to burn down the mosque and uttered anti-Muslim and inflammatory remarks.

When interviewed by police, Parkin, of Towyn, said he was drunk and could not remember what he had said.

But he added he was entitled to have those views, claiming they extended from his experiences in the army.

The 27-year-old admitted threatening to burn down the mosque and a charge of religiously aggravated disorderly behaviour.

Jailing him for 18 months, Judge Niclas Parry told Parkin that he was an 'inherent racist' who posed 'a high risk of harm' to a certain part of the community.

He told him: “There was a depressing inevitability that people such as you would claim that the tragic events involving Lee Rigby would be some form of justification for what are nothing less than the acts of bigots and yobs."

Drummer Lee Rigby was killed in Woolwich on May 22. Two men remain in custody.

Following the incident, Mr Rigby's father made a public appeal that what happened to his son should not be used as an excuse for further violence.