57-Year-Old Man Arrested over Harassing Phone Calls to Sydney Mosque
The 57-year old man allegedly made a number of phone calls where he harassed staff at the Parramatta Mosque, 25km west of the Sydney CBD, between October 9 and October 12, police say.
He was arrested at a home in the nearby suburb of Glenwood on October 18 after an investigation by detectives from the Parramatta Police Area Command.
After being taken to Blacktown Police Station for questioning, he was charged with six counts of use carriage service to menace/harass/offend.
It comes amid a stark warning from a top spy chief the conflict in the Middle East has increased the risk of politically or religiously motivated issues at home.
Australian Security and Intelligence Organization (ASIO) head Mike Burgess said last week he was worried about rising levels of tension between communities in Australia.
“As I have said previously, words matter. ASIO has seen direct connections between inflamed language and inflamed community tensions,” Burgess said.
“ASIO remains well-placed to detect threats to security including potential acts of politically motivated violence or the promotion of communal violence.”
There is no suggestion at this stage the alleged harassing phone calls were related to the conflict in the Middle East.
The man was granted conditional bail and will appear before Blacktown Local Court on Thursday October 26.
Source: news.com.au
