3 Teenagers Sentenced for Criminal Damage to Rochdale Cenotaph

Manchester Magistrates’ Court has sentenced three teenagers who spray-painted a cenotaph with “Free Palestine” graffiti for criminal damage. The incident took place in Rochdale on Nov. 7, before the Remembrance Sunday commemorations. Police protection was increased at the memorial, while officers said the offence affected local community and veterans. Eighteen-year-old Adeem Ahmed and Amaan Tariq, as well as a 17-year-old who cannot be named for legal reasons, received six-month community orders for vandalising Rochdale Cenotaph. District Judge Joanne Hirst told the three young men that “desecration of a cenotaph” is a very serious offence and not a “normal case of criminal damage.”...