Petrol-bomb youth escapes jail for attack on mosque

A TEENAGER who petrol-bombed a mosque has escaped a prison sentence after it was judged not to be a race-hate crime.

Peter Clark, of Livingston, set fire to Livingston Mosque and Community Centre in West Lothian with a beer bottle filled with petrol. Members of the mosque stamped out the fire before police were called in.

Clark, 19, appeared at Livingston Sheriff Court and was fined 400. He was also ordered to pay the mosque 60 in compensation. Fiscal-depute Victoria Greening told the court that members of the mosque found the smouldering remains of the bottle smashed against a door at the back of the building on 17 August, 2008.

The bottle was taken away for analysis and the DNA proved a match to Clark, who had earlier denied any knowledge of the fire.

Clark's solicitor, Ian Bryce, said his client was not a racist and he was not acting in a racist manner.

Sheriff Alan Miller told Clark: "This incident could have turned out to be so much more serious than it did, had the fire really taken effect, or had there been injury to people, as well as damage to premises."