The Hindu : Front Page : Briton of Indian origin gets indefinite jail term

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Saturday, Dec 19, 2009
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Briton of Indian origin gets indefinite jail term

He had attacked members of the legal profession with acid

Defendant claims he had thrown water, and that acid was planted afterwards to frame him Judge passes sentence keeping public protection in mind

London: A British citizen of Indian origin who had an ‘obsessional hatred’ for the legal profession has been jailed indefinitely for attacking a team of lawyers with acid.

55-year-old Ashok Mahajan has been jailed for splashing hydrochloric acid over a barrister, a solicitor and a pupil, after his case for racial discrimination claim was dismissed.

A former accountant, Mr. Mahajan had a decade-long history of courtroom outbursts including an incident when he threw a shoe at a barrister and threatened to shoot him.

Mr. Mahajan was given an indefinite period of imprisonment by the Sothward Crown Court for public protection, after reports indicated that he posed a high risk of serious harm to members of the legal profession.

Following a three-week trial earlier this year, he was convicted of attempting to cause grievous bodily harm with intent .

Judge Nicholas Lorraine-Smith said Mr. Mahajan was the most difficult defendant he had ever dealt with.

The judge told him: “I have had extensive dealings with you, Mr. Mahajan, over the last six months, and I have no doubt whatsoever that there is a very significant risk of serious injury being caused by you committing further specified offences.

“I don’t consider this offence warrants a life sentence, but the sort of revenge that you tried to take last October and the increasing intensity of your obsessional hatred for lawyers, and now others who have to deal with you professionally, persuades me that I must pass a sentence of imprisonment for public protection, which means that you will not be released until it is safe to do so.

“This was an attempt to cause grievous bodily harm to members of the legal profession, simply because they were carrying out their professional duty.”

Mr. Mahajan said he had thrown water only and claimed that the acid was mixed afterwards as part of a conspiracy to frame him.

He said the British judicial system was “worse than Nazis,” and alleged that it had joined forces with the police, government “agents” and the medical profession, to tamper with evidence and make him stand trial despite him being ill.

The judge told Mr. Mahajan: “[on the day of the attack] something had happened that made you determined that you were going to take your revenge on the legal profession which you obsessionally loathed.”

He said a psychiatrist who examined Mr. Mahajan felt he suffered from “ongoing paranoid beliefs about being conspired against by Nazis.” — PTI

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