ByMarcus Dysch, Marcus Dysch
A man who shot an Orthodox Jew with a pellet from a toy gun has been sentenced to a curfew order.
Kris Cherry, 20, must not leave his home in Bensham, Gateshead, between 8pm and 7am for the next three months after admitting he carried out the attack because he “didn’t like Jews”.
His victim, who has not been named, was not injured in the March 14 shooting despite being hit on the arm.
Unemployed Cherry fired the gun from a car “for a laugh” while travelling through Bensham, home to the North East’s largest Jewish community.
On Wednesday last week, Gateshead Magistrates’ Court sentenced Cherry to the curfew and a 12-month community order which will see him attend supervision sessions to change his behaviour.
He had pleaded guilty to one count of religiously aggravated common assault at a hearing last month.
He previously served time in jail for manslaughter after being convicted in 2003 over the death of a 15-year-old friend who died when Cherry trapped him in a skip and set fire to it.