A couple who viciously attacked Jewish wedding guests, punching them and whipping them with a dog leash while shouting antisemitic abuse, have walked free.

Thames Magistrates’ Court handed Ineta Winiarski and Kasimiersz Winiarski, a suspended 12-week prison sentence on September 5th, allowing them to walk free paying a mere £40 to each of their victims — approximately just one third of the cost of a parking ticket!

The court had heard how Ineta Winiarski, aged 33, and Kasimiersz Winiarski, aged 62, a Polish couple living in Hackney, “terrified” wedding guests outside Kehal Yetev Lev Synagogue near Clapton Common in London on 3rd July.

Mr Winiarski walked over to a driver, David Tangy, who was waiting to transfer the guests from the synagogue, and slammed his door. He then shoved Mr Tangy, whilst Ms Winiarski approached with the couple’s dog and whipped a guest, Ben Herbst, with the dog’s leash. Herbt’s father was also struck when he rushed to rescue his son. She shouted profanity throughout the entire incident and reportedly told the Jewish wedding guests in broken English: “Dog stay here England, you Jews go away.”

Stamford Hill Shomrim was called and followed the attackers to Clapton Common where they were arrested on suspicion of common assault and racially aggravated assault.

Ms Winiarski pleaded guilty to three counts of racially aggravated assault, while Mr Winiarski pleaded guilty to two counts of common assault. Both were given a 12-week prison sentence, suspended for a year, and ordered to participate in a behavior rehabilitation program lasting no longer than 20 days. They were also ordered to pay £40 to each of the victims, 5 in total, and pay administrative fees.

In announcing the sentence, Magistrate Caroline Dillon told the couple 12 weeks in prison is “the appropriate sentence” but she was suspending the sentence for 12 months “because you are of good character.”

“We commend Stamford Hill Shomrim for their fast response which ensured that the suspects could be arrested and prosecuted,” said The Campaign Against Antisemitism.

The statement continued: “We are deeply dismayed by this sentence. Anti-Semitic crime has soared by 45 percent in the past two years and securing prosecutions is rare enough. For a court to hand down such a derisively lenient sentence, effectively allowing vicious anti-Semitic assailants to walk free, paying approximately one-third the cost of a parking fine to the Jewish people that they punched and whipped in broad daylight, is an affront. This paltry sentence will not deter anti-Semites; it will embolden them.”

“Our criminal justice system is continuing to send a strong message that anti-Semites will rarely be charged, rarely be prosecuted, and rarely be properly punished. It is surely because of verdicts like this one that our research shows that a mere 21 percent of British Jews think that the authorities are doing enough to address and punish anti-Semitism. We hope that the Crown Prosecution Service will now appeal this outrageous verdict.”

Rabbi Herschel Gluck OBE, president of Stamford Hill Shomrim, said: “I am very surprised at the leniency of the sentence, considering the gravity of the attack.

“The authorities speak strong words about combating antisemitism, however the results on the ground does not reflect the rhetoric. I expect much stronger action to be taken in actually combating and reducing antisemitic hate crimes.

Couple convicted of assaulting Jewish wedding guests, sentenced to 12 weeks suspended prison sentence & ordered to pay £40 to their victims pic.twitter.com/v1EwnXhjER

— Shomrim N.E. London (@Shomrim) September 13, 2017

(Nat Golden – YWN)