A British man has been jailed by a court in the UK for assailing a couple waiting at a tram stop with antisemitic abuse. Adam Boyle, 32, was convicted for the incident on October 7 in the city of Manchester. Described by police as “visibly intoxicated,” Boyle approached the couple at the city’s Victoria Station while they waited for a tram to the nearby town of Bury.

As Boyle began screaming antisemitic abuse in the faces of the couple, two off-duty police officers who were passing intervened immediately, rushing to aid the couple and arrest Boyle.

Boyle, a resident of Birmingham in central England, will spend six-and-a-half months in jail.

After Boyle’s conviction was announced, local police officers in Bury posted a notice on Facebook recounting the incident.

“After spotting the couple at the station Boyle approached them before getting close to their faces and shouting antisemitic abuse at them,” they wrote. “Thankfully two off-duty police officers were nearby and witnessed the verbal assault and Boyle was immediately arrested.”

Boyle was found guilty of Racially/Religiously Aggravated Intentional Harassment/Alarm/Distress at Birmingham and Solihull Magistrates Court.

Antisemitic attacks have continued to dog members of the UK Jewish community over the last year. During 2020, when much of the country was in a COVID-19 lockdown, 1,668 antisemitic incidents were reported to the UK Jewish Community Security Trust (CST), while during the fighting between Israel and Hamas in Gaza earlier this year, the number of antisemitic offenses skyrocketed.