Man in court after copy of Koran burned in Manchester

A man is due to appear in court after a copy of the Koran was burned in Manchester and livestreamed.

Martin Frost, 47, has been charged with using threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour to cause harassment, alarm or distress in the city on Saturday afternoon.

He is also accused of a second offence of racially or religiously aggravated intentional harassment or alarm to Fahad Iqbal, by displaying some writing, sign or other visible representation which was threatening, abusive or insulting thereby causing that or another person harassment, alarm or distress and the offence was religiously aggravated.

Frost, from Stretford, Greater Manchester, is due to appear at Manchester Magistrates’ Court on Monday after being held in custody since Saturday.

The burning of the Islamic holy book was advertised online beforehand and streamed on social media.

Footage of the incident from X, formerly Twitter, showed the book being burned and a suspect being arrested by police near to The Glade of Light, the memorial to the 22 people murdered in the Manchester Arena bombing.

After the incident, Assistant Chief Constable Stephanie Parker of Greater Manchester Police (GMP) said: “We understand the deep concern this will cause within some of our diverse communities and are aware of a live video circulating.

“We made a swift arrest at the time and recognise the right people have for freedom of expression, but when this crosses into intimidation to cause harm or distress we will always look to take action when it is reported to us.”