Mohammed Hasnath, 18, posted stickers warning gays that
homosexuality was wrong in February.
The stickers were distributed around the Whitechapel, Shoreditch
and Poplar areas, featuring a rainbow flag with a line through it.
The stickers specifically targeted schools and pubs, including the
gay-friendly George and Dragon.
They read: "Arise and warn. Gay free zone. And Fear Allah; Verily
Allah is severe in punishment."
Hasnath, of Leamouth, Tower Hamlets, was accused under section 5
of the Public Order Act relating to harassment, alarm or
distress.
The teen, who is on benefits and represented himself, pleaded
guilty to the offense but also claimed he was not responsible for
all of the stickers (pictured).
He was arrested after he was spotted on CCTV putting up the
sticker at Bow Church and confessed to police he had also been
handing them out to young Muslim men in the area.
According to the Telegraph, when asked by District Judge Jeremy
Coleman what he had to say for himself, Hasnath said: "Basically,
some people just handed them to me so I just put them up. I didn't
say anything, it doesn't say that I am going to punish them it just
says what God says in the Koran.
"I wasn't the one who made them, some people gave them to me and
I only put up a few, there were hundreds of them up. I didn't know
the police were going to get involved or that it was a offence or
anything."
Hasnath, who lives with his family in Tower Hamlets and survives
on job seekers allowance, was fined £100, ordered to pay £85 costs
and a £15 victim surcharge.
District Judge Coleman said: "I think you used these stickers
deliberately to offend and distress people, you certainly succeeded
in doing that. You have upset people and they deserve an apology,
you are not entitled to behave in this way."
