Mohammed Abbkr: Man who set fire to two elderly people leaving mosques in London and Birmingham sentenced to indefinite hospital order

A man found guilty of attempting to murder two elderly men by setting them on fire as they left separate mosques has been sentenced to an indefinite hospital order.

Mohammed Abbkr attacked Hashi Odowa, 82, and Mohammed Rayaz, 70, outside mosques in London and Birmingham in February and March last year.

The 29-year-old claimed he believed they were among several people "controlling him through magic".

When he was convicted in November, West Midlands Police said his victims were left with "long-lasting physical injuries and significant mental trauma".

The court had heard how Abbkr prayed with the congregation before waiting for his victims outside.

He then followed both men, sprayed them with petrol from a water bottle, and used a lighter to set them on fire.

The court heard Abbkr set fire to Mr Odowa on 27 February as he made his way to a neighbour's car outside West Ealing Islamic Centre in west London.

He attacked Mr Rayaz on 20 March after he left the Dudley Road Mosque in Birmingham.

Abbkr - who came to the UK from Sudan in 2017 seeking asylum and was granted leave to remain two years later - had denied two counts of attempted murder and two alternative counts of maliciously administering a destructive thing to endanger life.

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Jurors were told he admitted to setting the victims on fire, but they had to determine whether he had intended to kill his victims - and if he had known what he was doing and that it was wrong.

They heard evidence from psychiatrists who said he was suffering from paranoid schizophrenia at the time of the attacks.

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