Stratford magistrate resigns over anti-Semitic comments

Stratford Magistrates' Court, where Abul Hussain was a justice of the peace Archant

A justice of the peace has resigned over historical racist comments that he allegedly wrote on social media.

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Abul Hussain, who worked at Stratford Magistrates’ Court, actually left his job six months ago but his actions can only now be reported following the results of an official investigation this week.

Mr Hussain was expelled from the Respect political party in 2010, made famous by Bradford West MP George Galloway, over anti-Semitic messages he allegedly wrote on Facebook. Despite this, he was appointed as a North East London magistrate in 2011.

His messages included exchanges where he told other users “u know the worlds coming to an end when a jew [sic] accuses another of being of his kind [sic]” and “jews like u are so boring so find everything lame, here’s a penny go put it in the bank and u just might get a pound after ten years interest [sic]”.

It emerged only this week that Mr Hussain resigned from his position in August last year before being removed from judicial office.

A spokesman for the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office (JCIO) said: “Mr Abul Hussain, a magistrate appointed to the North East London Area, has resigned from judicial office following an investigation into an allegation that he had posted racist and anti-Semitic comments on social media.

“A disciplinary panel recommended that Mr Hussain be removed from the judiciary, but he resigned before the disciplinary process had been formally concluded.

“Had he not resigned, the Lord Chancellor and the Lord Chief Justice would have removed him from judicial office.”

The Campaign Against Anti-Semitism (CAA) group, which pressed for an investigation into Mr Hussain, commended the JCIO for their “zero tolerance” to anti-Semitism, adding: “Our only regret being the protracted nature of this investigation.”

According to the Metropolitan Police Service, there were 459 incidents of anti-Semitic crime in London from December 2014 to December 2015 with nine occurring in Newham alone.

A CAA poll showed 45 per cent of Jews in Britain “fear they may have no future” in the country.

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