Why we should heed plea for tolerance from Muslim mum violated by a racist thug in Sunderland

There is little sympathy for racist Peter Scotter and even fewer kind words for his appalling attack on a Muslim mum.
The mother who had her niqab pulled off by Peter Scotter in a racist attack in SunderlandThe mother who had her niqab pulled off by Peter Scotter in a racist attack in Sunderland
The mother who had her niqab pulled off by Peter Scotter in a racist attack in Sunderland

He has rightly been vilified by a Sunderland public sickened by this degrading and disrespectful crime.

For ripping off this woman’s niqab veil and subjecting her to a torrent of abuse, the majority feel he deserves to be subjected to the full weight of the law with no sympathy.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

But he has been shown some sympathy, and from the most unlikely of sources ... his victim.

It’s a remarkable act of forgiveness, particularly when you hear the details of his crime against her.

Scotter grabbed her niqab with such force it nearly threw her to the ground. Her face was exposed and she suffered pain to her neck. But to add insult to injury, Scotter hurled a foul mouthed racist rant in her direction, not only in public, but in full view of her nine-year-old son. If she demanded the judge lock him up and throw away the key, few would blame her.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

As it is, this wronged woman has shown tremendous understanding and tolerance.

On Scotter she says she does not want revenge and does not want to see him suffer.

On our community and a post-Brexit Britain, she has asked that we “stop the hatred and chill.”

She said: “People need to look at themselves and think ‘I want to show love and not be hateful, I want to be the kind of person who makes a positive difference in this world.’”

Her call for peace not revenge could not be better timed.

If people heed these words and unite against intolerance, then at least some good has come from this appalling act.