A teenager who beat a rabbi over the head with a concrete brick in a vicious antisemitic attack has been sentenced to three years and seven months in a young offender institution.

But the judge expressed his frustration at not being able to give the attacker a longer term behind bars after he pleaded guilty to a lesser charge than he might have faced.

Rabbi Rafi Goodwin, from Chigwell & Hainault United Synagogue, north-east London, was targeted by two men as he drove his car from the building with his three young children -- aged two, four and five -- in the back.

Souraka Djabouri, 19, and a second, unidentified, man walked from behind a parked van into the path of the car, causing Rabbi Goodwin to brake.

The judge, Recorder Richard Conley, sitting at Chelmsford Crown Court, said the two men then embarked on an “ugly and shameful course of conduct", damaging Rabbi Goodwin's car, attacking him and stealing his phone.

“The reason for this behaviour was the fact you and your associate recognised Mr Goodwin was a member of the Jewish faith,” he said.

Rabbi Rafi Goodwin

Rabbi Rafi Goodwin

The judge said one of the men shouted “He's a Jew” during the attack, at around 1pm on 16 May last year.

He said Djabouri denied it was him, but that Rabbi Goodwin recalled that the person who made the remark was the same person who spat on his windscreen. DNA testing established it was Djabouri who spat on the windscreen, the judge said.

He said Djabouri, of Ilford, kicked the car's wing mirror, which snapped off, and the other man kicked the car door.

The judge said one of Rabbi Goodwin's children asked him: “Why are they kicking the car?”

The judge added: “Mr Goodwin told them he didn't know, but of course he did know, it was because they were Jews.”

He said Mr Goodwin “bravely drove after” the two men and got out of his car to try to take photographs of them on his phone.

But then began what the judge described as “a merciless assault” in which Djabouri punched the rabbi five times in the face until he fell to the floor.

One of the two men then struck Rabbi Goodwin on the head with a brick and stole his phone, which had the photographs on it. The phone has not been recovered.

“It's nothing short of miraculous that Mr Goodwin didn't sustain life-threatening or life-changing injuries,” the judge said.

He said both men “fled the scene leaving Mr Goodwin bleeding on the floor, not caring whether he was alive or dead or how serious his injuries may have been”.

He said the person who Rabbi Goodwin identified as being Djabouri was described by the rabbi as “the main guy”.

The judge said his sentencing powers had been “significantly curtailed by the decision to accept a guilty plea to a considerably less serious” charge than he had originally faced.

Djabouri admitted at an earlier hearing to grievous bodily harm without intent. This was an alternative to the more serious charge of causing grievous bodily harm with intent.

The defendant also admitted to the theft of the phone and to the religiously aggravated criminal damage of the car.

The judge said he had "absolutely no doubt whatsoever” that Djabouri would have been facing a longer sentence if he had greater sentencing powers and that Djabouri had played “a leading role in group activity”.

The judge said: “Attacks on members of the Jewish community in this country are becoming increasingly and worryingly commonplace.” He added that “unlike members of some other communities they're easily identifiable by their clothing and appearance”.

Rachel Law, prosecuting, said one of the men had picked up a “concrete brick and repeatedly struck the back of Mr Goodwin's head”.

Rabbi Goodwin needed stitches for his head wounds and now has scarring to his forehead.

In a victim personal statement read to the court by Ms Law, the rabbi said that since the attack he has been “hyper-vigilant about who's around me” and “looking over my shoulder”.

He said the incident had been “distressing” for his family and that some members of the Jewish community had removed their mezzuzahs from their front doors.

Mohammed Bashir, mitigating, said it was a “despicable offence” and Djabouri “shows a genuine level of remorse”.

Sentencing took place on Friday, 5 August.

A Crown Prosecution Service spokesperson said: "Our decision-making in this case, which took into account the views of the victim and the police, was based on an assessment of whether we had a realistic prospect of conviction in accordance with our legal test.

“The CPS takes antisemitism extremely seriously because of the devastating impact it has on victims and wider society.

“Where there is sufficient evidence and it is in the public interest, we will prosecute these cases.”

Following his selection as Chigwell and Hainault United Synagogue’s senior minister in March this year, Rabbi Goodwin told the JC in an interview that he and wife Chaya were “thrilled” to become the new rabbinic couple. He said he and his wife, who have been in the community for more than six years, were “so pleased we can continue to build on what we have started”.

At the time, synagogue chair Lindsay Shure said the couple had “endeared themselves to the community”. He added: “I’m absolutely delighted, for them and for us.”

Essex Police, who investigated the attack, said tackling hate crime is “a priority” for the force. Supt Naomi Edwards, who heads the force’s efforts against hate crime, said: “Hate crime is a priority for Essex Police and, very simply, will not be tolerated.

“We work very closely with other Essex partners to tackle hatred committed anywhere across the county, and we work closely with the CPS to make sure that hate crime offenders are brought to justice.”

A spokesman for the Campaign Against Antisemitism said: "We hope that this conviction will begin to bring some comfort to Rabbi Goodwin and his family after the traumatic attack, and are gratified that the court rightly recognised the antisemitic motivation of this callous criminal.”