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  1. Three Sikhs brought shame on their faith by launching an attack of almost animal ferocity on a man who had made derogatory remarks about their temple on Facebook. A judge said he was amazed at the attack in the grounds of a temple which holds itself out to have principles of truth, compassion, humility and love. The three members of the Baba Vadbhag Singh temple in Bayton Road, Exhall, were all ordered to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work. Santokh Singh Sahota, 60, of Jackers Road, Aldermans Green, Coventry; Harpreet Singh Sahota, 29, of Elmsdale Avenue, Little Heath, Coventry; and Gurinderjit Singh, 21, of Hawes Road, Walsall, had pleaded guilty to a charge of affray. Recorder Christopher Goodchild also ordered them to pay £500 each in compensation to their victim. Prosecutor Alex Warren said that the defendants and their victim Jujhar Singh Flora are all Sikhs but there are different strands of belief, and two temples close together in Bayton Road. The defendants attended the Baba Vadbhag Singh temple, about which Mr Flora, who attended the nearby Dukh Niwaran Sahib temple, had expressed some negative views on his Facebook page. He says he believed he was only sharing those views with friends, but in fact they were open for everyone to see and provoked a hostile reaction, said Mr Warren. In the early evening on August 28 last year Mr Floras sister was at their temple when four men, including Harpreet Sahota, approached her and said they were looking for her brother because they wanted words with him. She phoned her brother who arrived at their temple and spoke to her before crossing to the Baba Vadbhag Singh temple. He was met on the temple car park by Harpreet who suggested they go round the corner but, knowing there was a CCTV camera at the front, Mr Flora said he wished to stay there. Harpreet told Mr Flora he should remove the Facebook messages and became increasingly aggressive as he was joined by other men, including Singh. Mr Flora was backed up against a car and, as others joined the group, violence broke out when Santokh Sahota began swearing at Mr Flora and hit him in the face. That was the cue for others to join in, and Mr Flora was punched and kicked and knocked to the ground, said Warren, who played the CCTV recording in court. It showed that Mr Flora, whose turban had come off and unravelled as had tried to fight off his attackers, was pursued and struck again after getting to his feet. His sister tried to stop the attack before a police car was flagged down and officers brought the situation under control and arrested the three defendants. Mr Flora was left with cuts and bruises to his face and body, and Recorder Goodchild commented: He lost part of his beard; one can imagine how painful that must have been. Im amazed: this is the grounds of the temple which holds itself out to have principles of truth, compassion, humility and love. Ranjit Lallie, for Harpreet Sahota and Singh, pointed out that Mr Floras sister was told that what he had written was ruining the temples reputation. Explaining the historical background, Mr Lallie said the Sikhs were created 300 years ago to protect Hindus, and the priest at the defendants temple was a direct descendant of one of the ten Sikh Gurus. Without any foundation, the complainant felt it appropriate to make derogatory remarks about the temple and the way they worshipped. He said that the first two minutes involved what the judge had described as philosophical discussions as his two clients asked Mr Flora to remove his comments, but he was adamant he was not going to do so. Thereafter what my clients did can only be described as appalling and disgraceful, and they have tarnished the name of the Sikh community who worship at that temple. Both of my clients are shocked at their behaviour. They are well respected, not only at the temple but in the Sikh community, added Mr Lallie. And Simon Rippon, for Santokh Sahota, said: He has disgraced himself, his family and his community. Leamington court recorder Goodchild told the three men: Our history shows there can be occasions when peoples religious feelings start to get out of control; and over the centuries we have tried to overcome that with toleration. There were two minutes when tolerance and discussion seemed to dominate what was happening. But then it changed; and what it changed into was an attack of almost animal ferocity of a mob of you against one man. No religious difference of opinion justifies that. You hold yourselves out to be followers of a peaceful, loving religion. You brought shame on it. What happened that day, it was shameful. http://www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/coventry-news/three-sikhs-guilty-shameful-attack-6930940
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