Three teenagers who spray-painted a war memorial with ‘Free Palestine’ graffiti have been sentenced.
Adeem Ahmed and Amaan Tariq, both 18, and a 17-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, were handed community orders for vandalising Rochdale Cenotaph.
They targeted the monument on 7 November, and police had to place a guard there ahead of Remembrance Day.
District Judge Joanne Hirst told the teenagers the “desecration” of the cenotaph was a “very serious offence”.
Ahmed and Tariq, both of Rochdale, and the 17-year-old, had pleaded guilty to criminal damage.
They were due to face trial after denying the graffiti was racially aggravated, but the trial was discontinued by the Crown Prosecution Service “on evidential grounds”.
