A 21-year-old man has been charged with five counts of racially and religiously aggravated criminal damage following a series of alleged graffiti attacks on Muslim organisations and
community facilities in east London.
The Metropolitan Police said Illia Bilyk was charged after detectives investigated incidents in which offensive graffiti was sprayed on five buildings in the Stratford, Leyton and wider east London areas in January 2025. The alleged offences took place over two days and involved mosques, an Islamic association, a primary school and an Islamic community organisation.
According to police, the first incidents occurred on January 23, 2025. The Stratford Islamic Association on Brydges Road, the Al-Birr Mosque on Church Road in Leyton and Leyton Jamia Masjid on High Road were among the buildings allegedly targeted.
Two days later, on January 25, police say further offensive graffiti was sprayed at Noor Ul Islam Primary School on Dawlish Road and the Islamic Shariah Council on Francis Road, both in Leyton.
The Metropolitan Police's North East Command Unit conducted the investigation into the incidents. Officers treated the allegations as hate-related offences because of their alleged racial and religious motivation.
Chief Superintendent Rhona Hunt, who leads policing in the area, said the incidents had caused significant distress among Muslim communities in east London and continued to generate concern.
She said the Metropolitan Police was committed to tackling anti-Muslim hate crime and providing reassurance to affected communities, while encouraging people who experience or witness such incidents to report them to police.
The case covers a range of locations serving different parts of the local Muslim community. The alleged targeting of a primary school alongside religious and community institutions also brought the issue into a broader community-safety context.
Bilyk, who is from east London, faces five separate counts of racially and religiously aggravated criminal damage. He is scheduled to appear at Thames Magistrates' Court on September 17, 2026.
The charges mark the latest stage of a police investigation that began after the graffiti incidents in January 2025. Police have not disclosed further details about the evidence against the defendant.
Under the principle of due process, the allegations have yet to be tested in court. Being charged with an offence does not mean that the defendant has been found guilty.
The Metropolitan Police said it would continue to work with communities affected by hate crime and urged anyone with information about anti-Muslim incidents to contact the force. Photo by East London Mosque, Wikimedia commons.
