In indefinite detention in a psychiatric clinic one was convicted 29 years old who attempted to burn two old men alive Muslims, near mosques in London and Birmingham.

Mohamed Abkr was found guilty of attempting to kill two men, aged 82 and 70, in February and March 2023. The 29-year-old, who suffers from severe psychiatric problems, doused them in petrol and set them on fire.

Judge Melbourne Inman said he chose his victims “at random” but he was convinced they were trying to bring him under their control. The judge accepted that the two attempts were committed while the defendant, who suffers from paranoid schizophrenia, was in crisis.

The sentence imposed on him means that he will be admitted to a maximum-security clinic and cannot be released or transferred to another, lower-security institution without the approval of the Ministry of Justice.

On February 27, 2023, in west London, the accused struck up a conversation with the first victim, an 82-year-old man, as they left the place of worship together. Five minutes later, he doused him in gasoline and set him on fire with a lighter. The elderly man suffered severe burns to his face and hands. About a month later, on March 20, in Birmingham, a 70-year-old man was leaving the mosque to return home when he was similarly attacked. He too was admitted to hospital with serious facial injuries.