A judge warned that “severe sentences will follow” for anyone taking part in the violence.
Leeds Crown Court was shown CCTV footage of a group of Asian men kicking and punching a smaller group of four white men, one of whom was draped in a Union flag and wearing a Union flag mask, on Saturday afternoon on Great George Street in the city.
Graham O’Sullivan, representing Ali, said his client was provoked by “Islamophobic threats and abuse” from the group of white men, including comments such as “f— Allah” and the use of racial slurs.
Frances Pencheon, defending Ghafoor, said: “It was a short-lived moment of madness against a backdrop of what was said to him, and a backdrop of what was happening in town that day.”
Jailing the pair, Judge Guy Kearl KC, the Recorder of Leeds, said: “Given the nationwide context of the violence, and in order to provide punishment and deterrence in accordance with the overarching principles of sentencing, severe sentences will follow for those found to have participated in incidents of violence.”
Meanwhile, Mr Khan, 49, was remanded into custody at Birmingham magistrates’ court on Friday by District Judge David Wain after indicating a plea of not guilty to a charge of possessing an imitation firearm with intent to cause fear or violence.
Mr Khan, of Birmingham, also faces a charge of sending a communication threatening death or serious harm between Aug 5 and 6 and using threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour to cause harassment, alarm or distress towards a police officer on Aug 7.
District Judge Wain said Mr Khan had appeared in a video “holding a realistic imitation assault rifle” and remanded him into custody. He will appear at Birmingham Crown Court on Aug 14.
