Driver ‘hit Somali woman in anti-Muslim attack’

A motorist deliberately drove into a Somali woman twice in an anti-Muslim attack days after a bomb blast in London, a court heard.

Zaynab Hussein was hit by Paul Moore's car in Leicester, moments before he tried to drive at a Somali girl, 12, Nottingham Crown Court was told.

Mr Moore, 21, set out to kill five days after the Parsons Green Tube attack last September, prosecutors said.

Mr Moore denies attempted murder but admits he was the driver.

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Prosecutor Jonathan Straw said the defendant, of Letchworth Road, Leicester, struck Ms Hussein, who was wearing a hijab, in Acer Close, and subsequently drove over again seconds later.

The attack, on 20 September last year, was "purely because of the colour of her skin" and her "perceived Islamic faith", Mr Straw said.

"It is no coincidence, we say, that there had been a bomb at Parsons Green Tube station in London, said to have been carried out by sympathisers of Islamic State," he told the court.

'Blood from head'

Mr Moore also denies attempted grievous bodily harm with intent, dangerous driving and driving above the legal alcohol limit.

He told friends in the car he wanted to run someone over and laughed after hitting Ms Hussein, the jury heard.

In a statement to police, Ms Hussein described how she was thrown into the wall of a nearby house by the impact of the crash.

"When I hit the floor, I saw blood coming from my forehead," the court heard.

"I remember shouting for help but nobody was around, I tried to get up, but could not. I didn't have any feeling in my right arm and I thought it might have been broken.