Members of the British Hindu community were dismayed by what they termed a 'light' sentence awarded against the vandals who broke the Deity of Lord Rama at the Ealing Road Sanatan Mandir in Wembley.

At a hearing at the Brent Magistrates Court on 17 November, one man who broke the Deity of Lord Rama was sentenced to two months imprisonment for racially aggravated criminal damage, while another was fined £400 for racially aggravated threatening behaviour and set free.

"We do not know why a higher court did not hear the case, since a Magistrate's Court can only award a maximum sentence of six months for racially aggravated criminal damage, whereas a Crown Court has the discretion to award sentences as long as 14 years," said Venilal Vaghela, Chair of the Hindu Council of Brent. "What caused more concern in the Hindu community was the £400 fine which is not deemed a sufficient deterrent for preventing such behaviour in the future. The maximum fines allowed for racially aggravated disorderly behaviour is £2500."

Local MP, Paul Boateng, in whose constituency the temple falls, would not comment on the sentence, but joined in condemnation of the attack.

He said, "Attacks on holy places are totally unacceptable. My profound condolences go to the community, for what was a deeply offensive incident."

Dr Harish Rughani, President of the Ealing Road Temple explained that they had been working in partnership with the British Police to prosecute the two criminals.

"Once you hand over the culprits to the British police, you have to work in partnership with them and respect the law of the land. We were careful not to inflame passions in the area since we live in an ethnically diverse Borough. I suspect that the judgement may have been passed according to similar cases in the past."

Swami Nirliptananda, Chair of the Hindu Centre for Communications, said, "It was good that the Hindu community showed restraint by keeping calm and not allowing the situation to create any further discord between the communities in Brent."

Local Councillors from Brent joined in expressing their shock over the sentencing. Ramesh Patel, Labour Councillor from Queensbury felt that the sentence was an invitation to religious bigots to invade Hindu temples since "they would know they can get off very easily."

Ishwer Tailor of the Gujarat Hindu Society in Preston explained, "We shall be writing the Crown Prosecution Service to ask why a stronger sentence was not awarded at a higher court."