Pavlo Lapshyn

Pavlo Serhiyovych Lapshyn (born 12th March 1988) is a Ukrainian Alt-Right Terrorist who committed multiple Islamophobic Hate crimes against Muslims in the UK in 2013.

Attacks
Murder of Mohammed Saleem

On 29th April 2013, 82-year-old Mohammed Saleem was walking home from Green Lane Mosque, Small Heath when Lapshyn, who was carrying a knife, saw him and decided to kill him because "he was a Muslim and there were no witnesses". Lapshyn attacked Saleem and stabbed him three times in the back, killing him. At the time, the murder was believed to be the work of the English Defence League, who had been harassing and threatening Saleem in the time leading up to his murder.

Attempted mosque bombings

On 21st June, Lapshyn planted a bomb outside a mosque in Walsall, resulting in 40 homes being evacuated. He also planted another in Wolverhampton on 28th June, damaging the Wolverhampton mosque, but this was not recognised as a bombing until after Lapshyn's arrest due to the incompetence of the responding officers. Lapshyn planted a third bomb in a mosque in Tipton on 3rd July, the day of the funeral of Lee Rigby, a British fusilier who was killed by Islamic extremists Michael Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale. This third bomb went off an hour after prayers ended, killing no-one. The resulting investigation into the bombings lead to thousands of hours of CCTV tapes being seized by the Metropolitan Police, allowing them to pick out the suspect. Lapshyn was ultimately identified as the man when police officers saw him in Small Heath, a location which caused them to suspect that he had killed Saleem. He was arrested, and admitted to the bombings and, two days later, Saleem's murder. After pleading guilty to charges of murder, terrorism and attempted murder, Lapshyn was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 40 years.