A man is to appear in court for the attempted murder of a 15-year-old boy who was stabbed several times outside a mosque in Birmingham at the weekend.

The teenager was left in a critical condition after being dropped off at the Idaara Maarif-e-Islam mosque, commonly known as Hussainia, by his father shortly after after 1am on Saturday.

On Sunday night, police said they had charged Dominic Palmer, 29, of Small Heath, over the attack and remanded him in custody. He was due to appear before Birmingham magistrates court on Monday morning.



DI Jim Colclough of the complex crime investigation team at Bournville police station said: “This was a tragic incident and our thoughts are with the family at this difficult time. We’ve since learned that the boy only celebrated his 15th birthday two days before the attack.

“Our investigation is continuing as we work to establish the circumstances of what happened, so that we can provide his family with the answers they need. I would ask anyone with information to come forward.”

Police have said they are not treating the attack as a terrorist incident, but the motivation remains unclear. One line of inquiry was that the incident could have been a racially motivated hate crime.

Azhar Kiana, the president of the mosque, told the Birmingham Mail the attack happened on the pavement.



“By the time the dad parked his car, his son was on the floor,” Kiana said. “There was a young man who was brutally beating the boy with a knife. There was blood everywhere, he was hitting the boy’s neck and head. Then the attacker ran off and got into a car.”

Amjad Shah, the general secretary of Hussainia mosque, described it as “a cowardly and unprovoked attack” and said the boy was critically ill in hospital.

“Background checks so far have not associated the suspect with any particular mosque or community,” he said.

“The board of trustees emphasises that whatever the motive behind this attack, it should not be sensationalised or used as a justification to spread hatred or incite violence. Hussainia mosque will not tolerate the disturbance of the communal harmony between the various communities that share this geography.”

The attack came a week after an imam and orthopaedic surgeon, Nasser Kurdy, was stabbed outside the Altrincham Islamic Centre in Greater Manchester. Ian Anthony Rook, 28, of no fixed abode, appeared at Manchester magistrates court on Tuesday charged with unlawful and malicious wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, and possession of a lethal weapon.