A FATHER who racially abused teachers and assaulted a head in a religious row has been branded a ‘bully’ by a crown court judge — and jailed for 27 months.

Mohammad Liaqat became incensed after two Muslim 14-year-old students were banned from lessons at Mount Carmel RC High in Accrington for refusing to shave off their beards, even though he was not directly affected by the case.

MORE TOP STORIES:

The 34-year-old launched a ‘racist tirade’ on staff at Mount Carmel, where one of his children attends, Burnley Crown Court heard.

Liaqat was ordered to stay away from the Wordsworth Road school, which employs workers from across East Lancashire, after being arrested over the incident.

But the court was told he turned up later at St Oswald’s RC Primary, where another of his children was a pupil, and embarked on another racist rant.

Headteacher Jeff Brown approached him to ask him to leave and was ‘shoulder barged’ by Liaqat, the court heard.

Jailing him yesterday, Recorder Anthony Cross QC said that Liaqat was a ‘bully’.

Liaqat, of Richmond Avenue, Accrington, was convicted of racially-aggravated threatening behaviour and an assault charge following a three-day trial at Burnley last April.

Mr Recorder Cross also issued a restraining order against the defendant banning him from contact with staff at four schools in the Accrington and Burnley areas.

He must also not go within 100 yards of either Mount Carmel or St Oswald’s schools, and Accrington St Peter’s Primary, and Rosehill Special School in Burnley.

Denise Fitzpatrick, defending, said her client, faced a number of issues in his personal life, including the care of a seriously-ill daughter, who attended a special school locally.

Liaqat had become enraged after two pupils at Mount Carmel were excluded for breaching uniform and appearance policies by growing beards.

But after talks with governors, and after being told that the pair were studying a ‘Hafiz’ education programme at their local mosque, the beards were allowed as a representation of their faith.

Hyndburn MP Graham Jones said: “Teachers have a hard enough job and the rule of law is final, whatever someone’s particular beliefs. It is only fair that people are brought to book for this kind of behaviour.”

Jeff Brown, headteacher of St Oswald’s, said: “I’m looking forward to being able to move on from this unfortunate incident and getting back to normal school life.

“We pride ourselves on being a happy school enjoying outstanding relationships with our families and the wider community. I’m glad that this has now been resolved.”

A Lancashire Police spokesman said that the force was satisfied with the sentence imposed for the offence, which had seen Liaqat repeatedly refer to Mount Carmel as a ‘racist school’ while abusing white members of staff.

“We are committed to tackling all crime motivated by hostility and prejudice and we would urge anyone who has been a victim of a hate crime to have the confidence to come forward and report it to police,” added the spokesman.

Speaking after his conviction, Mount Carmel headteacher Xavier Bowers said that his school worked hard to maintain community cohesion.

He added: “My staff were simply doing their job at the time, supervising our children leaving school and making sure they were safe.

“Without provocation, they were verbally assaulted an abused in front of the children and parents.”

PC Dave Hall, of the hate crime and community cohesion unit, said: “What he did was completely unacceptable. Whatever his motives, we cannot accept this kind of behaviour.”