Pavlo Lapshyn
Pavlo Lapshyn | |
---|---|
Mugshot of Lapshyn after his arrest | |
Born |
Pavlo Sergiyovich Lapshyn Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine |
Nationality | Ukrainian |
Occupation | Post-graduate engineering student |
Criminal penalty | Life, with a minimum of 40 years |
Motive | Racism[1] |
Killings | |
Date | 29 April to 12 July 2013 |
Location(s) |
Small Heath, Birmingham Walsall Wolverhampton Tipton |
Target(s) | Non-whites[1] |
Killed | 1 (Mohammed Saleem) |
Injured | 0 |
Weapons | Dagger, home-made explosives |
Date apprehended | 18 July 2013 |
Pavlo Serhiyovych Lapshyn (Ukrainian Cyrillic: Павло Сергійович Лапшин[2]) is a Ukrainian terrorist who perpetrated his crimes in 2013 in the United Kingdom. Lapshyn was given a life sentence, and will serve a minimum of 40 years,[3] for a murder in Birmingham and three attempted bombings of mosques in the West Midlands. He confessed to police that his motivation was to kill non-whites.[3]
Background
Pavlo Lapshyn is from Dnipropetrovsk, the son of Sergey Lapshyn, a university lecturer. Lapshyn's father claims his son is not a racist, and said Pavlo knew his grandmother was a member of the (largely Muslim) Tatar community.[4]
Lapshyn studied engineering in his home city at the National Metallurgical Academy of Ukraine. In 2009 he earned a BA with honours, and completed a Master's degree the following year. He then began to pursue a doctorate. Lapshyn was arrested in August 2010 after inadvertently causing an explosion in his family's apartment. Lapshyn had been experimenting with bomb-making chemicals while his family was on holiday. The explosion blew him across the room and caused severe damage to the apartment. Lapshyn told investigators he had been trying to make fireworks, and was fined over the incident.[5][6]
During his doctoral studies, Lapsyhn entered a competition to exchange with Coventry University and partake in work experience at Delcam - a software company based in the Birmingham neighbourhood of Small Heath. He was accepted after coming in third place for his work on 3D modelling and computer programming. Lapshyn arrived in Birmingham on 24 April 2013, and stayed in a flat in the business park where Delcam's headquarters are located.[7] Colleagues described him as shy, yet polite.[8]
Attacks
Murder of Mohammed Saleem
At around 10 pm on 29 April 2013, five days after his arrival in the United Kingdom, Lapshyn stabbed 82-year-old Mohammed Saleem to death as the pensioner returned from Green Lane Mosque in Small Heath. Saleem had been walking alone near his Small Heath home when he was spotted by Lapshyn, who was carrying a knife. Lapshyn later told detectives that he decided to kill Saleem because he "was a Muslim and there were no witnesses." Lapshyn stabbed Saleem three times in the back.[6]
Local opinion was that Saleem had been murdered by a member of the anti-Islamist street protest movement, the English Defence League (EDL), after six Muslims had been convicted for attempting to bomb one of their rallies.[9] Shazia Khan, a daughter of Saleem, claimed that her brother had received increasingly threatening letters purporting to be from the EDL. One of them stated: "It has come to our attention that you are training terrorists at your premises. We will not tolerate any terrorist activities on our soil. We urge you to close this gym as soon as possible." The letters were said to date from September 2012, before Lapshyn's arrival.[10]
Due to post-mortem investigations, Saleem was not given a funeral until 13 July. Approximately 5,000 attended the service at his mosque.[11]
Bombing attempts
Lapshyn attempted three bombings on local mosques, targeting Friday lunchtimes as they are the services with highest attendance.[8] The first was laid outside a mosque in Walsall on 21 June, and police investigations led to 40 homes being evacuated.[12] The second was laid outside Wolverhampton Central Mosque on 28 June, but not reported until after the other two.[13] The third bomb was placed in Tipton on 12 July.[13]
Arrest and trial
Lapshyn was arrested and questioned over the explosions and the murder of Saleem on 18 July.[14]
For the explosions, he was charged under section 2 of the Explosive Substances Act 1883 and section 5(1) of the Terrorism Act 2006. He pleaded guilty to all charges on 21 October 2013.[15]
Lapshyn was sentenced at the Old Bailey in London on 25 October 2013. The court was cordoned off after a suspicious device was found.[3] Peter Wright QC, prosecuting, said that police searches of Lapshyn's flat had found photographs of him posing with the dagger with which he had killed Saleem, as well as white supremacist literature and video games. Wright argued for a whole-life order;[16] however, Lapshyn was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum of 40 years served.[15]
Hanif Khan, a son-in-law of Saleem, stated after sentencing that "We're in the hands of the judge – 40 years is still a long time and he’ll be 65 when he gets out. We’ve lost a beloved person. Hopefully now we can get some closure".[16]
References
- 1 2 Lumb, David (21 October 2013). "Pavlo Lapshyn's 90 days of terror". BBC News.
- ↑ "МІНІСТЕРСТВО ОСВІТИ І НАУКИ, МОЛОДІ ТА СПОРТУ УКРАЇНИ".
- 1 2 3 "Black Country mosque bomber Pavlo Lapshyn jailed for life". Express & Star. 25 October 2013.
- ↑ "Mosque bomber Pavlo Lapshyn given life for murder". BBC News. 25 October 2013.
- ↑ Bentley, Paul (22 October 2013). "Ukrainian white supremacist who murdered Muslim grandfather blew up his parents' flat while testing homemade explosives before planting nail bombs at mosques in UK terror campaign". Daily Mail.
- 1 2 "Ukrainian student in one man racist reign of terror targeting Black Country mosques". Express & Star. 22 October 2013.
- ↑ McCarthy, Nick (22 October 2013). "Pavlo Lapshyn: Academic loner inspired by Oklahoma bomber Timothy McVeigh". Birmingham Mail.
- 1 2 Dodd, Vikram (21 October 2013). "Pavlo Lapshyn, the 'shy and polite' student turned terrorist". The Guardian.
- ↑ Bassey, Amardeep (5 May 2013). "Muslim community fears 'revenge' attacks after murder of Small Heath pensioner". Birmingham Mail.
- ↑ "Daughter of Mohammed Saleem criticises West Midlands Police". BBC News. 24 May 2013.
- ↑ Richards, Andy (14 July 2013). "Thousands pack funeral for Birmingham pensioner stabbed in the back". Birimingham Mail.
- ↑ "Bomb left outside Walsall's Aisha mosque". BBC News. 23 June 2013.
- 1 2 "Explosion at third mosque". ITV Central News. 20 July 2013.
- ↑ Wilkes, David (22 July 2013). "Killing of grandfather near mosque 'was act of terrorism': Police question Ukrainian man held over mosque bomb attacks on suspicion of his fatal stabbing". Daily Mail.
- 1 2 "Terror killer Pavlo Lapshyn jailed for minimum of 40 years". West Midlands Police. 25 October 2013. Archived from the original on 29 October 2013.
- 1 2 "Mohammed Saleem family say terrorist Pavlo Lapshyn is gutless coward". Express & Star. 26 October 2013.
External links
- "Courts and Tribunals Judiciary — Judgments: R -v- Pavlo Lapshyn". Judiciary of England and Wales. 25 October 2013.