A pig’s head was mounted on the gates of a Muslim family’s home, in an ‘appalling’ hate crime which has left them fearing for their safety.
Father-of-two Camran Butt, 41, spotted the gruesome sight as he was taking his nine-year-old son and four-year-old daughter to school on the morning of January 9.
What first looked like debris left behind by Storm Goretti at the Greater Manchester home was discovered upon closer look to be something far more sinister.
Mr Butt said: ‘We noticed something on the floor and thought it could have been from the storm.
‘But then the kids said there was a dead animal in the garden.’
The disturbing incident – which is being investigated as a hate crime – left the family so shaken they felt unsafe sleeping in their own home.
Cameras caught the moment two hooded men approached the gates in the early hours.
The CCTV footage shows them unwrapping the pig’s head from a bag before mounting it on a spike at the top of the gates. Within the space of around 20 seconds, they were gone.
CCTV footage caught two hooded men holding the pig’s head and bleach as they walked towards the gates of the family home
They then mounted the animal carcass onto a spike at the top of the gates
Police are investigating the ‘appalling’ hate crime, which the family believe was a targeted attack
One of the men appeared to be holding an object that Camran believes to be bleach.
Father-of-two Camran Butt was taking his kids to school when he made the disgusting discovery
He said: ‘I didn’t want the kids to look at it, so we tried to get them off to school. I told them it was a dead pigeon.
‘But I knew what it was straight away.’
He added: ‘My wife was distraught. She took it really badly, to be honest. She was shaking and crying.
‘I think she had a bit of a panic attack when she saw what was on the cameras.’
In Islam, the consumption or handling of pork is strictly forbidden. Camran believes the attack was carefully planned.
He said: ‘It wasn’t like it was just kids messing around with graffiti – this was targeted and professional.
‘It was very frightening when you look back on it.’
He contacted cops, who arrived at the family home within 15 minutes.
Camran, who runs a health and social care company, said: ‘I was born and raised in Greater Manchester.
‘I had a bit of racism in school, but I’ve never experienced anything like this before.
‘We’re not easily identifiable Muslims – my wife doesn’t wear a headscarf or anything like that.’
The impact on the family was so severe that Camran hired a security guard to patrol outside the property overnight for a week.
But he said the response from the community has been ‘amazing’, with neighbours reaching out to check on the family.
A spokesperson for Greater Manchester Police confirmed the incident is being investigated as a hate crime.
Chief Inspector Lisa Devitt said: ‘This was an appalling and deliberate act against a family home – no one should be subjected to incidents of this manner.
‘We are treating this incident as a hate crime and are doing everything we can to find those responsible.
‘We appreciate this will have caused concern within the community and additional patrols were stepped up in the community following the report of this incident to provide reassurance.
‘We’d urge anyone with information to please come forward. This can be reported via 101 or the reporting mechanisms on our website quoting log 877 of 09.01.26.
‘Alternatively you can report information anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.’
