Man ‘refuses to leave prison cell’ to plead guilty to mosque attack

LONDON: A 30-year-old man accused of stabbing a prayer leader with a kitchen knife at a mosque has refused to leave his prison cell to enter guilty pleas, a court has heard.

Daniel Horton, who has mental health problems, declined to leave his cell at Wandsworth Prison in south-west London to enter pleas over the stabbing at London Central Mosque in Regent’s Park on February 20.

It left defence counsel Sam Blom-Cooper to tell judge Deborah Taylor that his client would not be appearing via video-link during Thursday’s short hearing at Southwark Crown Court, despite his admission to one count of grievous bodily harm and possession of a bladed article.

Blom-Cooper said his client’s mental health has deteriorated and that a further report is required.

Victim Raafat Maglad, 70, was treated in hospital for stab injuries including a 0.6in (1.5cm) injury to his neck following the attack.

Maglad, known as the muezzin – the person who makes the call to prayer – returned to the mosque for Friday prayers less than 24 hours after the incident. The court was previously told that the victim and defendant were known to each other because Horton, who was homeless at the time, had been attending the mosque for a number of years. Horton was further remanded in custody for a formal plea hearing on September 18.