A conspiracy theorist Tahra Ahmed who claimed that Grenfell Tower victims were ‘burnt alive in a Jewish sacrifice’ has been jailed.
Tahra Ahmed posted ‘virulently’ anti-semitic conspiracy theories to Facebook just days after the fire in west London that left 72 people dead.
The 51-year-old has now been sent to prison for 11 months.
She was found guilty of two counts of stirring up racial hatred by publishing written material after a trial at the Old Bailey.
Tahra Ahmed ‘crossed the line as to what is acceptable in a liberal society’ with baseless claims in two posts from January and June 2017, prosecutor Hugh French told jurors.
On June 18, 2017 – four days after the Grenfell Tower tragedy – Ahmed posted a video on social media of the fire and branded it a ‘Jewish sacrifice’, the court heard.
Ahmed, who volunteered to help victims of the disaster, stated: ‘I’ve been at the scene, at the protest and at the community meetings and have met many of the victims… some who were still in the same clothes they escaped in.
‘They are very real and genuine, their pain and suffering is raw and deep and their disgusting neglect by authorities continues.
‘Watch the footage of people trapped in the inferno with flames behind them.
‘They were burnt alive in a Jewish sacrifice.’
The post went on to link Grenfell to an anti-semitic conspiracy around the Twin Towers destruction in New York.
Ahmed, from Tottenham, north London, had denied wrongdoing, arguing that her posts were political rather than anti-semitic.
An earlier post, on January 26, 2017, also set out an anti-semitic conspiracy theory, jurors heard.
A police investigation into Ahmed’s activities arose as a result of a story published in The Times on December 11, 2017, which focused on some of the people who attended public meetings after the Grenfell fire.
An examination of Ahmed’s Facebook account revealed a history of anti-semitic comments.