A racist who left pig’s trotters at a synagogue has found himself back in court after he breached a court ruling banning him from going anywhere near the place of worship.

Sixty-year-old David Hann was given strict bail conditions not to enter Rochester High Street after he admitted leaving the animal parts on a window sill of the Chatham Memorial Synagogue earlier this month.

Jews are not permitted to eat pork as part of their religion.

Hann, of nearby St Bartholomew’s Lane, Rochester, admitted racially or religiously aggravated intentional harassment when he appeared at Folkestone Magistrates’ Court on February 15.

At the time, magistrates heard the distressing incident had happened between February 4 and February 6.

Despite admitting the charge, Hann was not sentenced as it was felt a pre-sentencing report was needed on him before magistrates could decide his fate. He was bailed with conditions not to go to the High Street.

He was also told he would need to attend Medway Magistrates’ Court on April 10 to be sentenced.

However, just days later on February 19, after a tip-off from a member of the public, Hann was found in an abandoned building right next door to the synagogue.

He was arrested and hauled before the Medway court the next day where he admitted breaching his bail conditions.

James Nichols, prosecuting, said: “He was told not to enter Rochester High Street after pleading guilty to the racially aggravated offence.

“He left pig trotters at the synagogue and will be sentenced on April 10.

“The breach was that he entered the building next door.

“He was found in the building [by police] after a tip-off and had been squatting there before and told police he had gone back to get his tools and clothing he had left there.

“He admitted the offence [the synagogue one] at the earliest opportunity and has not been in trouble since and the last time he was in trouble was 1990.

“He can arrange with the police to return to the building to retrieve his items on one occasion.”

Magistrates agreed to grant Hann bail again but warned him not to breach his conditions this time.

The chairman of the bench said: “We agree you can go with the police on one occasion, but you are not to go there until your case is dealt with.”

Hann will be sentenced at the same court next month.

It’s not the only time the synagogue has been targeted.

In January last year, vandals daubed a swastika outside the historic place of worship days before International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

The attack happened days before the global event which commemorated the brutal murder of millions of Jews by the Nazis and their collaborators between 1941 and 1945.

Dalia Halpern-Matthews, a trustee of the synagogue, said at the time she was disturbed and upset by the appearance of the Nazi symbol on a pillar.

In August 2023, yobs went on a wrecking spree causing thousands of pounds of damage.

A trail of destruction was left in the Jewish burial ground with the headstones of loved ones smashed and knocked down in what was treated by police as a hate crime.

This latest incident with the pig’s trotter is the seventh time the sacred site, which has recently gained Grade II-listed status from Historic England, has been hit in recent years.

In other attacks, the CCTV cable was cut from the wall, excrement was smeared on the door, and graffiti including swastikas was daubed over furniture. Lead was also stripped from the roof.

Dr Halpern-Matthews said after the 2023 incident: “We need to step up our security but we simply don’t have the funds.”

In the past, the Community Security Trust, which provides protection for Jewish schools and synagogues, has helped to pay for a security guard.

She said: “People were feeling vulnerable and some were understandably too nervous to come to services.”

A memorial service was being held at the synagogue last night (Wednesday) to mark the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp.

The synagogue and The Ship Inn in Rochester were lit on Monday night to mark Holocaust Memorial Day.

The Ship is thought to be the oldest LGBT+ pub in the UK and was lit in honour of the 50,000 homosexuals murdered by the Nazis in the Holocaust. This was part of a longer-term project called Closer Than You Think looking at the impact of the Holocaust on all communities.