Man seen throwing bag of rotten pork at Finsbury Park Mosque in London

Police have launched an investigation into a religiously motivated hate crime in which a suspect threw a bag of rotten pork at a mosque in north London. Officers were called in the early hours of 26 May following a report of a man throwing the meat at the Finsbury Park Mosque.

CCTV footage shows the suspect approaching the mosque several times before waiting until no one else was around before hurling the rotten pork onto the steps of the mosque.

The suspect is described as a white bearded man, in his late 30s, 5ft 9ins tall of medium build. He was wearing a light coloured woollen hat, a light coloured coat with a folded down collar and light coloured trousers and wore dark black shoes.

Detective Inspector Ralph Coates of Islington Community Safety Unit said:"We take hate crime extremely seriously as we know how destructive these offences can be, both to individuals and to communities. I would urge anyone who recognises this man or has any information that will help the investigation to contact police."

Anyone with information about the incident or who can identify the man is asked to contact Islington Community Safety Unit on 020 7421 0281 or alternatively call 101 quoting CRIS 2712630/16. You can also contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

The incident occurred following reports that hate crimes have soared by 400% in the UK since the vote on whether Britain should leave the EU on 23 June. According to figures released by the National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC), there had been 331 hate crime allegations reported in the UK in the week following the vote compared with the average of 63.