A woman who was sent abusive, sexual and racist videos by a far-right terrorist – who later tried to murder an asylum seeker – believes police would have taken her case more seriously if it was related to Islamic extremism.
Mercy Muroki has spoken to Sky News correspondent Alice Porter after Nazi-obsessed Callum Parslow was jailed for life for repeatedly stabbing Nahom Hagos in a Worcestershire hotel on 2 April 2024.
Warning: Some readers may find details in this story distressing
Ms Muroki, a former GB News presenter, had earlier reported Parslow to police after he began sending her sexually graphic and racist videos on Instagram in the summer of 2023.
However, the 30-year-old mum says the force dismissed him as a “loner” and a “loser” who posed no physical threat to her because he did not have a car.
Police have not yet responded to these allegations.
West Mercia Police have previously said that Parslow’s bail conditions were appropriate to the nature of offences.
Parslow, now 32, was arrested by West Mercia Police and later charged in relation to the offences against Ms Muroki.
He went on to try and murder Mr Hagos after he had been released on bail.
As it happened: White supremacist Callum Parslow sentenced
During a search of his flat in Worcester, officers found Nazi memorabilia and a far-right manifesto.
In her interview with Sky News after Parslow was jailed on Friday, Ms Muroki said: “I understand, I suppose in law, the things that he was doing and the messages he was sending didn’t qualify as serious enough for him to sort of remain in custody whilst they were investigating the case.”
However, Ms Muroki added: “I could see he was clearly a dangerous individual based on the things that he was saying.
“And on his Twitter as well, there was all manner of just crazy, far-right conspiracy theories.”
She continued: “I think if it was, Islamic terrorism, for example, the police probably would have taken it more seriously.”
Ms Muroki has said when Parslow first began contacting her he would send videos of a “very kind of graphic sexual nature”.
She added: “It escalated to him responding to videos I’d uploaded with my daughter and just saying really horrific things such as, you know, ‘no self-respecting white paedo would sexually assault your daughter’.
“It was bizarre because on one hand it was messages of a sexual nature that he seemed to have some kind of weird sexual fixation on me. And then it would switch to really kind of hateful, racist messages.”
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Ms Muroki says that when she blocked him on Instagram he began messaging her on Twitter, now known as X, instead.
When she blocked him on that platform he started messaging her on Facebook.
Ms Muroki decided to report Parslow to police when he started sending her videos showing him pleasuring himself to pictures of her.
He would also send her videos describing sexual fantasies that he had.
Ms Muroki said: “That’s when I decided this person is clearly not just a keyboard warrior. I realised that his behaviour and his messages were escalating. And that’s when I decided to report it to the police.”
She says the force initially “acted quite quickly” and she was assigned an officer who “did take it quite seriously”.
However, she says over time she felt her concerns that his behaviour could escalate were not being taken seriously enough.
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‘Undoubtedly a terror attack’
Parslow will serve a minimum of 22 years and eight months in prison after he stabbed Mr Hagos, who is originally from Eritrea, in a “protest” against small boat crossings.
Parslow, 32, has Hitler’s signature tattooed on his arm and used a £770 knife he had bought online to attack Mr Hagos when he was eating in the conservatory of the Pear Tree Inn at Hindlip.
During sentencing, the judge, Mr Justice Dove, told Parslow: “You committed a vicious and unprovoked assault on a complete stranger Nahom Hagos who suffered devastating injuries as a result of your violence.”
The judge also said Parslow, from Worcester, was “motivated by your adoption of a far-right neo-Nazi mindset which fuelled your warped, violent and racist views”, and added: “This was undoubtedly a terrorist attack.”
Mr Hagos told the court in an impact statement he had been “living and pursuing a happy life before the incident,” but added: “I feel lonely and don’t feel safe on the street.
“My life has been turned upside down.”
