Birmingham police treat youth organisation arson as hate crime
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Version 0 of 1. A fire at a Birmingham youth organisation which works with Muslims is being treated by police as a hate crime. The office of Ulfah Arts, at Highgate Craft Community Centre, was destroyed in a fire on Tuesday morning. The blaze came a week after an anti-Islamic DVD was sent to the office of the not-for-profit organisation. It has helped thousands of people gain experience in using radio, film, television and the media to highlight social issues since it was launched 10 years ago in one of the UK's most deprived areas. Ulfah Arts works with young people from all backgrounds but counts a lot of Muslims among its users. It used to work on projects specifically with the Muslim community but has not done so for more than six years, although the projects continue to be referenced on its website. Sarah Javid, a senior volunteer at Ulfah Arts, said: "There's been a lot of hate against us. We work with all communities and I guess somebody out there doesn't like this." The chief executive, Prashant Singh, who is currently in India, said: "It's a terrible tragedy and lots of very disadvantaged young people have been directly affected. We as a team are still in shock about what happened." The organisation's general manager, Kelly Jones, said it had been receiving hateful and threatening messages not linked to faith or ethnicity for about a year. The DVD that arrived last week contained "horrific material", including pornographic images and profanities against Allah. It was passed to West Midlands police. Jones said tens of thousands of pounds of equipment had been destroyed, including a radio suite, editing equipment, laptops and film equipment, as well as "priceless" projects that young people were working on. Police were treating the incident as arson with intent to endanger life as the fire threatened to spread to residents living in flats above the centre. Detective Chief Inspector Richard Agar, of Birmingham East police, said: "The motive for the blaze is unknown, however we are aware of a malicious letter sent to the centre earlier this month. We are investigating this as a hate crime and, although apparently unconnected, we will explore any links between the two incidents." Jones said the fire was started in two places and traces of blood had been found, which may provide a clue to the perpetrators. But a police spokeswoman said they would not comment on the details of the investigation. The fire service sent two engines to the property in Highgate Square after receiving a 999 call at 4.52am on Tuesday. The blaze destroyed 50% of Ulfah Arts's first-floor unit in the three-storey building and 60% of the rest of the building was smoke-logged. The incident was declared over by the fire service just after 6am. Ulfah Arts was planning a fundraising drive to replace its equipment. "The great thing is that our young people are upset by it but they want to take action to make things right," Jones said. |