A Brighton mosque faces scrutiny after a trustee was jailed for inciting jihad, revealing serious management issues within the charity.
Brighton: So, there’s been some serious drama at a local mosque. The Charity Commission found that the Brighton Mosque and Muslim Community Centre, also known as the Dyke Road Mosque, is poorly managed. This all came to light during an inquiry linked to a former trustee who was convicted for encouraging terrorism.
The investigation kicked off back in August 2022 after folks raised concerns about a dispute among those claiming to run the mosque. This mess was really hurting the charity’s management. A big part of the issue was former trustee Abubaker Deghayes, who gave a speech promoting violent jihad to a crowd that included kids back in November 2020.
What’s wild is that at least one trustee was there during that speech but didn’t step in to stop it. Deghayes ended up getting a four-year sentence at the Old Bailey in London in April 2022. Fast forward to now, and the inquiry has revealed that the charity was not just poorly managed but also had some serious misconduct going on.
The Charity Commission had to step in and appoint an interim manager to get things back on track. They even found a new board of trustees after a thorough recruitment process. The interim manager took charge of the charity’s finances, which included over £17,000 in cash donations.
Another former trustee, Karim Aboutayab, was disqualified for over four years due to his role in the mismanagement. He was found to have escalated disputes and failed to file the charity’s annual accounts on time. The Charity Commission had been keeping an eye on the mosque since Deghayes was charged with encouraging terrorism back in July 2021.
Joshua Farbridge, who heads inspections at the Charity Commission, made it clear that using a charity to promote terrorism is a serious breach of trust. He emphasized that all trustees need to ensure their charities don’t become breeding grounds for extremist views. The mosque has been reached out to for comments, but it’s clear that this situation has raised a lot of eyebrows.
