Unhinged Southsea man caught on video brandishing knife at people by mosque is jailed

Callum Mcinally, 29, of Waverley Road, has today been sentenced to 20 months behind bars at Portsmouth Crown Court after previously admitting racially motivated crimes at his first hearing on 2 September.

The incident, which took place on 31 August at the Portsmouth Jami Mosque, saw Mcinally shouting verbal abuse whilst he approached a small group of men, women and children who were praying.

After a man from the group asked Mcinally to leave them alone, Mcinally punched him to the chest, kicked a prayer mat and shouted racial abuse. Mcinally later returned and pulled out a knife, which he discarded and ran away once he heard police sirens.

A video which captured the terrifying incident showed the drunk and incoherent Mcinally shouting and swearing at men outside the mosque before suddenly pulling a knife from his sleeve and aiming it towards one of the victims. “He’s got a knife, he’s got a knife,” one of the threatened men is heard saying before pushing away the defendant’s arm.

Mcinally then moves back, drops the knife before picking it up and strides forward menacingly as the men are heard saying “get back” amid growing fears over Mcinally’s unpredictable and hostile behaviour.

The defendant then bizarrely says: “What have we got to do to protect our children?” He follows this up by launching the blade over a wall and into bushes before he is consoled by one of the men who puts his arm around him as Mcinally stumbles away from the mosque.

Mcinally admitted racially aggravated common assault by beating, assault by beating, racially aggravated intentional harassment, and threatening a person with a blade in a public place

Harvey Withecombe, of the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “We ensured that Callum Mcinally appeared before the court straight away. The sentence handed today, after the Crown Prosecution Service successfully applied for a hate crime uplift, proves there is nowhere to hide for those who are intent on spreading hate, malice and prejudice in our communities.

“We will continue to act swiftly and robustly regarding these cases and ensure those responsible for such crimes in our communities are brought to justice.”