LONDON (AP) — A British man was convicted of attempted murder on Friday for running over a Muslim woman in a hate crime he saw as revenge for Islamic extremist attacks.
A jury at Nottingham Crown Court in central England found Paul Moore guilty Friday of the Sept. 20, 2017, attack, which left 47-year-old Zaynab Hussein with life-changing injuries.
Prosecutors said 21-year-old Moore drove his Volkswagen into Hussein in the central England city of Leicester, then ran her over as she lay on the ground. Hussein suffered fractures to her pelvis, her spine and leg and spent almost three months in hospital.
Minutes later, Moore tried to drive into a 12-year-old schoolgirl, who wasn’t hurt.
Moore told his half-brother he was “proud of himself” for the attack, which took place five days after a failed bombing at a London subway station.
After the verdict, Hussein’s husband Barre Duale said Moore “was attacking a British mother, a British wife, a productive British worker and charity volunteer.”
“He wasn’t attacking terrorists. He was joining their ranks by doing what they do and attacking an innocent woman,” he said in a statement.
Moore will be sentenced March 27.