Corbyn egg attack: Man charged over ‘assault’ outside London mosque

Labour leader unharmed after incident during visit to constituency on Sunday

A man has been charged with assault after Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn was attacked with an egg during a visit to a north London mosque.

Scotland Yard said John Murphy, 31, was charged in the early hours of Monday with assault by beating following an incident at Finsbury Park Mosque on Sunday.

Eyewitness reported someone had shouted “when you vote you get what you vote for” as Mr Corbyn was hit with the egg inside the building.

Mr Murphy, of Barnet, north London, will now appear at Highbury Corner Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday, 19 March.

The Labour leader, along with shadow home secretary Diane Abbott, had been speaking with community leaders for a national Visit My Mosque Day event in his constituency.

He was unharmed in the incident and continued with his planned programme of events for the day at the mosque and Muslim Welfare House.

Mr Corbyn later tweeted about his visit without referencing the egg incident.

“Every year Muslim communities across the country open their doors to people of all faiths and none on #VisitMyMosque Day,” he wrote.

“It's a fantastic opportunity to build understanding across communities and educate ourselves about our diverse communities. Let's build bridges not walls.”

Finsbury Park Mosque was the target of a terror attack in 2017, when unemployed Darren Osborne deliberately mowed down worshippers outside, leaving one man dead.

Osborne was later found guilty of terrorism-related murder and attempted murder and sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 43 years.

Additional reporting by PA