By ATHEISTEGBERT
Added: Mon, 18 Apr 2011 20:42:37 UTC

A former soldier has been sentenced to 70 days in prison for setting fire to a copy of Muslim holy book the Koran in the centre of Carlisle.

Andrew Ryan had previously admitted religiously aggravated harassment and theft of a Koran from a library.

The 32-year-old, of Summerhill, said he had been "shocked" watching a Muslim burning a poppy on Remembrance Day.

Shoppers and schoolchildren witnessed the burning, outside the old Town Hall, on 19 January.

Sitting at Carlisle Magistrates' Court, District Judge Gerald Chalk described it as a case of "theatrical bigotry".

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NOTE: Proof enough for those still under the illusion that we no longer have any blasphemy laws in the UK, or that burning the Koran won't get you jailed.

TAGGED: ISLAM, POLITICS