Man is jailed for 16 months for racially-aggravated assault on Orthodox Jew after he was filmed accusing him of 'killing babies in Palestine'

By ROBERT FOLKER, NEWS REPORTER Published: 18:17, 10 July 2026 | Updated: 18:28, 10 July 2026 A man who launched a racially-aggravated assault on an Orthodox-Jewish building inspector accusing him of 'killing babies in Palestine' has been jailed for 16 months. Shafiq Rahman cornered Moishe Posen, a married father-of-two, in the garden of a house he was working at and called him a 'dirty motherf***** Jew' during the sickening attack in Slough, Berkshire, on April 20. The 48-year-old threatened to 'break his jaw' and also screamed at him 'Jew, what are you f****** doing here Jew.' He went on to call him a 'dirty Jew' and accused him of 'killing babies in Palestine'. Shockingly, a passerby could also be heard shouting from his car encouraging Rahman to physically attack his Jewish victim.  Heartbreakingly, the victim revealed that even while he was being attacked, he was berating himself for being so obviously 'a visible Jew' and not doing more to make himself less of a target.  The attack happened just weeks after four ambulances owned by a Jewish charity were targeted by arsonists in Golders Green, north London, and days before the attempted murder of two men in the same London suburb.   Rahman was also sentenced for a XL Bully dog attack which happened while he was on licence for another offence.  As Rahman was sentenced, he was seen smirking in the dock at Reading Crown Court with Judge Lesley Rowley stopping proceedings to address the defendant, telling him: 'You seem to think something is funny. You're not helping yourself.'  Shafiq Rahman cornered Moishe Posen, a married father-of-two, in the garden of a house and called him a 'dirty motherf***** Jew' during the sickening attack in Slough, Berkshire  Rahman threatened the man with physical violence, saying 'I'll break your f****** jaw' before accusing the man of 'killing kids in Palestine' Rahman was also sentenced for a XL Bully dog attack which happened while he was on licence for another offence. Pictured: Rahman with his XL Bully called Sniper Shafiq Rahman, of Lismore Park, Slough was today jailed for 16 months for his offences He admitted racially aggravated common assault and using threatening words to provoke violence in the attack on Mr Posen at Reading Magistrates Court on April 22.  He was also found guilty at trial for the dog-related offence - keeping a dangerous dog, being out of control - which happened in Station Road, also Slough on June 18, 2025.  The victim Duncan Bird spent 13 days in hospital, needed three operations and had four plates inserted into his wrist. The racist attack on Mr Posen happened while he was on bail for the dog attack on Mr Bird. Rahman's XL Bully, called Sniper, bit a man's arm for up to three minutes leaving him with an open fracture to his wrist. The court was shown CCTV images of how Rahman was carrying a muzzle in his hand at the time. Rahamn, of Lismore Park, Slough, also pleaded guilty to criminal damage in relation to spitting in a police van after his arrest.  He was jailed for a total of 16 months. Mr Posen - a building inspector - was not in court for the hour-and-a-quarter long sentencing hearing. In a statement was read out by prosecutor William Innes on his behalf, Mr Posen said: 'I was angry. Not angry at the man attacking me. I was angry with myself, going out so visibly Jewish.' 'You're a husband and a father, knowingly putting your life in danger.' He drove home and put his two daughters to bed but didn't tell his wife about what happened straight away. Mr Posen said after what happened he didn't want his payots (religious sidelocks) visible. He added: 'I think about moving to Israel every day. But I'm British. My parents fled Nazi Germany. My maternal grandmother survived Auschwitz.' In an interview with Daily Mail, Mr Posen said he had been left shaken by the incident and said he no longer felt it was safe to 'go around as a visible Jew' in today's Britain.  The victim - who checks properties are fit to be rented out - was looking over a house in Elliman Avenue and had his back to the street when he heard a man on a bicycle shout at him: 'Dirty Jew'. He said: 'I was minding my own business, facing the house, taking pictures but being very visibly Jewish as I had on a kippah. I heard him shout out 'dirty Jew' as he rode nearer on his bike. I turned around and saw him coming back towards me, so I pressed record on the phone. 'He said his stuff and then it looked like he was about to leave – he'd done his bit. I think he felt satisfied - but then a car drove past, shouting something that appeared to encourage him. 'At that point, I could see the rage in his eyes. It felt like if he had a knife he could have seriously hurt me.' Someone tried to intervene, but struggled to get the aggressor away. It was only when a neighbour shouted from her window that she was going to call the police that the cyclist -calling her a 'Zionist b****' - eventually left. 'I'm still trying to digest everything,' says the Jewish man, whose paternal family escaped Nazi Germany to find a safe home in the UK.  'While this guy was standing over me, I was berating myself and asking: 'What were you thinking?' 'Only a couple of days before, I'd switched on my phone and seen there had been yet another attack on a synagogue. And I'd heard the ambulances blow up, seen the plumes of smoke. So they all felt very close.  'But even though I knew it was not safe, I would think, 'they are not going to come after you. No one is going to jail for attacking you. You are not important enough.'  'We live in our cocoons where we try and pretend things are safe, we kid ourselves they are, when actually they are not. 'And then this happened. I was telling myself off for being irresponsible for going around as a visible Jew and thinking that I would be OK.' He added: 'We are a tolerant nation, one that has been very kind to the Jewish people. I think British people will accept anyone who abides by British values and becomes part of the society. But I think a line has been blurred over being too tolerant of extremism.  'We are tolerating intolerance and no-one seems to be sticking up for our values, for who we are as Brits.' There was widespread outrage over the incident, with Campaign Against Antisemitism calling it 'Jewish-hatred without disguise'. It said: 'Jews going about their daily lives are not safe from being subjected to vile assault and violent threats. This is simply untenable for Jewish life in Britain.' Community Security Trust (CST) a charity which protects the Jewish community, called the attack 'utterly abhorrent'. Reacting to the footage, Alex Hearn from Labour Against Antisemitism said of the incident: 'This is the UK, where being Jewish is considered provocative. Where people chant 'violence is justified2 on the streets, and then we see it played out.' Karen Pollock, chief executive of the Holocaust Educational Trust, said: 'Sadly it seems the UK is becoming an intolerant and dangerous place just to walk around looking Jewish.  'Antisemitism has been normalised to the point that this man felt totally at ease abusing someone just because of their faith. This comes after a week of almost daily arson attacks on Jewish places of worship and charities.  'This hasn't happened in a vacuum. We've seen antisemitism growing largely uncontrolled for more than two years and now we are seeing alarming levels of hatred in our communities.'  Meanwhile, Labour MP for Slough Tan Desi called the incident 'heinous'. The incident happened following a spate of attacks targeting Jewish premises in London. Pictured: Volunteer-led Jewish community ambulances were set alight in Golders Green The antisemitic attack took place just a day after a Jewish-owned shop in Lower High Street, Watford was targeted in a racially-aggravated attack. A fire door was set alight and antisemitic graffiti left on a building between 4.15pm and 4.20pm on Sunday. Hertfordshire Police said it was keep to trace a group of young men in the area at the time and called in an 'isolate incident' not connected to a spate of attacks that have targeted Jewish community venues over the last month.  Arsonists also targeted four Jewish community ambulances run by Hatzola - a volunteer-led service - in Golders Green, north London, on March 23. Forty firefighters and six fire engines rushed to Highfield Road, near the Machzike Hadath synagogue, at approximately 1.45am following the incident.  The firebombing caused gas canisters stored in the ambulances to explode, with the force from the blast causing windows to break in a block of flats close by.