Man arrested after Birmingham counter-protest claims stick was spiritual staff

A 46-year-old man seen carrying a wooden stick on TV coverage of a counter-protest in Birmingham told police the item was a spiritual staff and was not an offensive weapon, a court has heard.

Shehraz Sarwar went on trial at Birmingham Magistrates’ Court on Monday, claiming he had a lawful excuse to carry the item during a protest in the Bordesley Green area which saw others wearing face coverings and balaclavas.

He has pleaded not guilty to possessing the stick as a weapon, but is said by the Crown to have carried it with the intention of causing injury on August 5.

Opening the case against Sarwar, of Wright Road, Saltley, Birmingham, prosecutor Shahid Rahman said: “At about 5pm a significant event unfolded with a number of people gathered outside a McDonald’s in Belchers Lane.

“There had been many (false) social media reports of the English Defence League attending the area. Many others gathered for a counter-protest reacting to the rumours.”

The court was told Sarwar was arrested after being identified from a Sky News bulletin, on which he was seen carrying what was initially and wrongly thought to be a sword.

Officers recovered the stick, which was examined by the district judge at his trial and estimated to be around 3ft long, the following day, after detaining him at his home.

Mr Rahman added: “He describes himself as a practising Muslim and said such staffs are used during Friday prayers led by the Imam.

“The Crown submission would be that the defendant had no credible reason for why he was carrying the item… that the defendant had no lawful reason to carry the item.”

The Crown do not suggest Sarwar was involved in any violent behaviour, but allege the stick was taken to a “demonstration whereby things could have become chaotic”.

Part of a 37-minute police interview, conducted on the evening of August 6, was read to the court, in which Sarwar said he was giving out water at the gathering.

The court heard he told police: “It was peaceful. I admit I was there. I never seen (any) disorder – I was not with anybody.

“I am no concern to nobody because I know how to behave. It’s not an offensive weapon – it’s a spiritual staff. I never had an intention of wrong.”

Sarwar, who told police he had personally cut the stick from a tree in Kashmir, added: “I have now come to realise that at this sort of situation it was not suitable, but it was not offensive.

“I never flaunted it at anybody. I was just there peacefully, just standing there.”

The trial continues.