Rasheed Jama (Image: South Wales Police)
Last Updated: 3 minutes ago
A Cardiff man who attacked a stranger with a hammer, hurled antisemitic abuse at police, and threatened to rape a female officer has been sentenced to 18 months in prison – but was told he may already be eligible for release.
Rasheed Jama, 20, of Grangetown, admitted 11 charges spanning three violent episodes in 2025, including religiously aggravated assault, grievous bodily harm, assaulting emergency workers, racially aggravated assault, and possession of an offensive weapon.
Appearing at Cardiff Crown Court via video link from HMP Swansea, Jama was told by Judge Christopher Felstead he would qualify for release after serving at least 40% of his term. Given the time already spent behind bars, the judge said he could walk free “today or soon”.
The hammer attack
The most serious act of violence came on 11 September at Penarth Labour Club, where Jama struck a man on the back of the head with a hammer without any provocation.
The victim was left with blood streaming from the wound, and Jama was apprehended nearby a short time later, prosecutor Martha Smith-Higgins told the court.
Judge Felstead called the assault an act of “utterly nonsensical and random violence”.
Abuse at the hospital
Jama’s offending began on 20 June when police detained him and took him to University Hospital Wales in Cardiff. He had been found in a state described as “abusive, foaming at the mouth… and intoxicated”.
Once inside the hospital, he grew aggressive and directed racial slurs and a far-right slogan at those around him, Ms Smith-Higgins said. After being removed from the A&E department, his behaviour worsened – he spat at, kicked, and bit officers while shouting an antisemitic slur.
When interviewed by police the following day, Jama was entirely unapologetic. He told officers he “wished he’d done more to assault officers” and showed no remorse for the racial abuse.
Threats in the shopping centre
On 29 August, officers were called to a shopping centre where Jama had been threatening to stab security staff in the neck.
As he was being searched and placed under arrest, he threatened to rape a female police officer.
Sentencing
The judge said Jama had been “extraordinarily racially abusive towards officers using extreme racial slurs” and that his physical assaults were “unpleasant and frightening”.
He described the language directed at female officers as “disgusting and utterly reprehensible”.
The court heard the incidents involved “extreme levels of violence and extreme racial slurs”.
Defence barrister William Bebb accepted his client had committed “repulsive, unsavoury and violent acts” and acknowledged that Jama’s “impulsivity… is something he needs to work on”.
The court also heard that Jama had five previous convictions for 14 offences, all deemed “relevant” by the judge.
