A man who burned a Koran in front of city centre shoppers in Carlisle is due to be sentenced.
Andrew Ryan, 32, took out a copy of the holy book from Carlisle library and then set it on fire with a lighter as a crowd gathered to hear his protests.
Police arrested Ryan, of Summerhill, Carlisle, shortly after the lunchtime incident in English Street on January 19.
He pleaded guilty to religiously aggravated harassment and theft at an earlier hearing.
Ryan was released on bail last month as the case was adjourned for pre-sentence reports.
Sentencing will take place at Carlisle Magistrates’ Court.
The offences took place before the Home Office announced later the same day that controversial US pastor Terry Jones was barred from the UK.
The preacher sparked outrage when he announced plans by his Florida-based church to burn copies of the Koran to mark the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on America.
Earlier this month a top United Nations official blamed a Koran burning at Pastor Jones’s Dove World Outreach Centre in March for violent protests in Afghanistan which killed a number of UN staff.