A man has been convicted of attacking an Australian news reporter as she did a piece live on air.
Sooffuu Yakr, 26, of no fixed abode, admitted charges of assault by beating, possession of an offensive weapon and possession of cannabis when he appeared in custody at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Thursday, 4th June 2020.
Terrifying as the assault would have been, possession of an offensive weapon is the most serious offence in terms of sentencing. The maximum penalty for that offence is 4 years' custody.
Magistrates heard that Nine News Perth Europe Correspondent Sophie Walsh was reporting on the Black Lives Matter protests in central London on Wednesday morning. She had just started a piece live on air when Yakr barged into her and made stabbing gestures with a screwdriver.
Matt Barrowcliffe, prosecuting, described the incident: "The defendant approached Ms Walsh and grabbed her, he made stabbing motions towards her stomach with a screwdriver in his hand while shouting Allahu Akbar.
"Ms Walsh didn't see exactly what was in his hand, she was terrified it was a knife and because of what the defendant was saying he might be a terrorist."
Ms Walsh could be heard screaming on air during the incident, saying to her newsroom colleagues: "Sorry, I just had someone come up and try and... yeah.
"A man just came up and grabbed me."
Cameraman Jason Conduit armed himself with a metal stand and gave chase to Yakr, who he caught and managed to restrain until police arrived.
Yakr was arrested and searched. The screwdriver was recovered along with a small amount of cannabis.
Nicholas Tarry, Presiding Justice, told Yakr: "Your actions were extremely threatening, which put the reporter in fear of her safety and possibly in fear of her life.
"An offensive weapon was brandished, religious comments were made.
"This whole offence is too serious for the Magistrates' sentencing powers to be sufficient so we are sending this to the Crown Court."
Yakr was remanded in custody until his sentencing hearing at Southwark Crown Court next month.
Footage of Yakr's assault on Ms Walsh is shown below:
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