Cherie Blair 'spared man due to religion'
Cherie Blair 'spared man due to religion'
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By Matt Hallam. |  |
Thursday, 04, Feb 2010 11:34
By Richard James.
An official complaint has been lodged against Cherie Blair, the wife of Tony Blair, after she spared a man from prison due to his religious beliefs.
Sitting as a judge under her professional name Cherie Booth, Mrs Blair suspended Shamso Miah's prison sentence because he was a "religious man" and had not been in trouble in the past.
The 25-year-old from Redbridge, east London, broke a man's jaw during an argument in a bank queue.
Inner London crown court heard how Miah punched Mohammed Furcan both inside and outside the building.
In sentencing him, Mrs Blair declared: "I am going to suspend this sentence for the period of two years based on the fact you are a religious person and have not been in trouble before.
"You caused a mild fracture to the jaw of a member of the public standing in a queue at Lloyds Bank. You are a religious man and you know this is not acceptable behaviour."
The decision has caused the National Secular Society (NSS) to lodge a complaint with the Office for Judicial Complaints (OJC) claiming the wife of the former prime minister had effectively discriminated against atheists.
Terry Sanderson, president of the NSS, told the Daily Telegraph: "This seems to indicate that she would not have treated a non-religious person with the same latitude. We think this is discriminatory and unjust."
Miah, a devout Muslim, had been on the way back a local mosque when he got into the confrontation with Mr Furcan.