A convicted terrorist sympathiser told a woman he’d cut her head off in a Swindon shop.
On Monday (9 October), Feras Al-Jayoosi walked into One Below, a discount store in Regent Street, and started following a member of staff – shouting “don’t ignore me” at her several times.
Concerned about his approaches, she made her way into the staff-only storage room at the back of the shop saying: “Please leave me alone, I’m not on shift yet.”
The defendant continued to follow her, shouting more and more aggressively each time. He entered the storage room and said: “I’m going to take your head off, I’m going to cut your head off.”
Scared for her safety, another staff member appeared and managed to get Al-Jayoosi out of the room, prosecutor Keith Ballinger told Swindon Magistrates’ Court this morning (Tuesday).
He said that the defendant – in custody – made full and frank admissions, claiming to officers that the shop worker had given him a dirty look and had been rude to him on a previous occasion.
Stephen Collins, defending, said his client “accepts a lot of upset was caused” by his actions and confirmed that no bail application is being made due to Al-Jayoosi being recalled to prison.
The 36-year-old, of Barnham Court, Rodbourne, pleaded guilty to a Section 4 Public Order Act offence. The case was adjourned for reports and he will be sentenced next month. He was recalled to prison for breaching his licence conditions and remanded in custody.
Al-Jayoosi is a convicted terrorist sympathiser, who wore T-shirts supporting Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad in Golders Green, London, which has a large Jewish population.
At Westminster Magistrates’ Court in December 2021, he was given a 16-week prison sentence suspended for two years – but has since been jailed for his crimes.
During that hearing, chief magistrate Paul Goldspring said: “This prosecution is not about (you) supporting the cause of the Palestinian people. You and very many others – rightly – feel very strongly about that.
“It’s about supporting organisations that believe the way to solving the problem is in ways that are violent and that we should all abhor.”
UPDATE: Al-Jayoosi is due for sentence on 30 November 2023.
