Serial Mosque Raider Jailed for Four Years After Injuring Police Officer

A career criminal with a proven history of targeting Islamic institutions has been handed a four-year prison sentence following a disturbing crime spree that saw him rob a mosque and injure a police officer attempting his arrest.

Anthony Chieke, 56, of Mount Street, Westminster, was sentenced at Reading Crown Court on Wednesday, October 8, 2025, after being found guilty of multiple counts, including two of burglary, criminal damage, dangerous driving, and driving whilst disqualified. The sentencing, which came after Chieke repeatedly refused to attend his own hearing, brings closure to a case that spans offences in both Reading and Slough.

Nine-Hour Vandalism and Theft

The initial crime spree began on the evening of October 21, 2024. Chieke broke into the Abu Bakr Mosque on Oxford Road, Reading, where he smashed multiple donation boxes and stole approximately \textsterling 1,000 in cash.

The court heard that Chieke’s actions went beyond simple theft; he deliberately tried to sabotage the ensuing investigation. During the nine-and-a-half-hour ordeal, he stole keys, accessed the CCTV room, sprayed the security cameras with white paint, and damaged the system's hard drive cables. Despite this attempted cover-up, Thames Valley Police successfully located and used Chieke’s DNA from the scene to secure the conviction. The investigating officer confirmed the damage to the mosque and its CCTV system ran “into the many thousands.”

Crucially, court records confirm that Chieke is a repeat offender, having been jailed previously in 2013 for a string of 12 mosque burglaries across the country, underscoring his pattern of violating places of worship.

Violent Arrest in Slough Leaves Officer Injured

Chieke was apprehended nearly a month after the mosque break-in. On November 18, 2024, officers in Slough were alerted to his location by Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) technology.

When police attempted to stop his vehicle, Chieke failed to comply. The pursuit ended when Chieke was blocked into a dead-end road by two police vehicles. In a violent attempt to evade capture, he reversed his car with the driver's door open straight into a police vehicle. A police dog handler who was getting out of the car at the time was struck and sustained injuries, requiring hospital treatment before being discharged.

Investigating Officer Detective Constable Daniel Hardwick highlighted Chieke’s lack of cooperation, noting his refusal to engage throughout the entire judicial process, including declining to attend court via video link from prison.

Mosques: A Growing Target for Crime and Intimidation

The burglary at the Abu Bakr Mosque inflicted a profound emotional cost on the local Muslim community. DC Hardwick noted that the violation “affected a whole community,” with many worshippers feeling “incredibly anxious” and “not feeling safe enough to return for weeks.”

This incident is not isolated. It underscores the broader context of UK mosques increasingly becoming targets of crime and intimidation. Recent Home Office statistics reveal that religiously motivated hate crimes aimed at Muslims have seen a significant spike. Research shows that attacks on Islamic institutions—ranging from vandalism and arson to theft and burglary—are often recurrent. This pattern forces mosques to divert vital community resources into security measures, reinforcing the sense of vulnerability among worshippers who fear being “attacked at any time.”

The four-year custodial sentence has been welcomed by police as a necessary step to hold the repeat offender accountable and provide reassurance that crimes against places of worship will be treated with the utmost seriousness.