Fresh plea for help as police release men in pig's head investigation

Detectives released two men on Friday who were arrested after the incident, which is classed as a hate crime, at the Madani Academy in Lake Road, Portsmouth.

They now have no ‘active lines of enquiry’ and will only reopen the case if new information is handed in to police.

It comes after horrified pupils and staff were upset when they arrived at the school on January 21 to find the animal’s severed head.

It was the second time a pig’s head had been put outside the Islamic school. Muslims are forbidden to eat pork.

Two men, 22 and 24, were released with no further action, after being arrested on suspicion of racially and religiously aggravated intentional harassment or distress by words or writing.

Supt Will Schofield said: ‘We’re continuing to work with the community in the city to address any concerns that they may have.

‘While there are no active lines of enquiry for this investigation, I’m convinced that someone can still come forward and provide the evidence we need to catch whoever was responsible for this deplorable act.

‘If any new information is provided this will be investigated thoroughly.’

Headteacher Luthfur Rahman said: ‘We express our heartfelt gratitude towards the police for their efforts and support in pursuing and resolving this in an efficient manner.

‘We further thank everyone including the people of Portsmouth, local politicians and all other organisations that provided us support after the incident.

‘We hope incidents like these do not take place to anyone or anywhere in future.’

Tim Godfray, from Pompey in the Community, was teaching at the school on the day the pig head was found and said pupils and staff were affected by the incident.

He said: ‘They were very disappointed, very shaken.

‘When the kids came in through the door they were extremely down.

‘They’ve got to find the people who did this.’

Call 101 quoting 44160030331.