A convicted killer who shouted 'Allah Akbar' while breaking a Jewish chaplain's jaw in a 'despicable' attack at HMP Whitemoor has been handed an additional 11-year sentence. Joseph Gynane, 41, launched the violent assault on the top floor landing of the prison on September 14, 2025, punching the chaplain on the back of the head and knocking him to the floor.
The chaplain, who was visiting the prison to speak with inmates, suffered a broken jaw and thumb. He told police he believed the attack was religiously motivated due to his Jewish faith and the black skull cap he was wearing at the time. Gynane continued to punch his victim even after a prison officer sprayed him with PAVA, eventually stopping only when he was moved to the segregation unit.
While in segregation, Gynane covered his cell with graffiti, including the phrases 'free Palestine' and 'Death to the IDF'. He was charged with racially aggravated assault inflicting grievous bodily harm and admitted the offence at a court hearing in March 2026.
Sentencing at Cambridge Crown Court
On Friday, May 1, Judge Andrew Hurst sentenced Gynane to an additional six years in prison plus an extended five years on licence, to run consecutively with his existing life sentence. The life sentence, for murdering his friend and stabbing a 16-year-old boy in London in 2019, carries a minimum term of 30 years, meaning Gynane will not be eligible for release until at least 2055.
Judge Hurst described chaplains as providing valuable support for prisoners and said they were 'valuable, cherished and should be protected'. He noted that Gynane, who converted to Islam in 2007, held 'antisemitic, florid and ideologically disturbing' views. The judge also highlighted Gynane's 'long record for serious violence, including stabbings' and his 'appalling record for violence within prison', with the highest number of assaults to his name at HMP Whitemoor.
The judge called the attack a 'serious assault motivated by racial hatred' and expressed concern about a 'very high risk of future assaults' from Gynane, who 'will seek to harm innocent members of the Jewish community'.
Police response
Following the sentencing, Detective Constable Emma Purser from Cambridgeshire Constabulary said: 'Gynane was already serving a life sentence for murder, but I am pleased he has now had his sentence extended by quite some time and has faced justice for his actions – which were shocking and despicable.'
'The Jewish chaplain involved in this case was providing a valuable service and no-one deserves to be attacked in this way, with such strong violence – and especially not because of their religion. I hope this case highlights how seriously both police and the courts take offences of this nature, and serves as a deterrent towards anyone else thinking of committing the same behaviour.'
