A member of a hooded mob that attacked Kingston mosque hung from the front of the building and tried to pull parts of it off as the violence raged, a court has heard.

Nine men accused of the attack on November 21, 2010, are currently on trial at Kingston Crown Court to deny the charges against them.

During the violence, 20 to 30 men with their faces covered waved pieces of wood, urinated beneath the minaret and laid bacon on a car, the court heard.

The attack came hours after a peaceful English Defence League (EDL) rally.

The jury have been shown photos of the aftermath which include parts of the sign above the mosque entrance which had been ripped down.

Yesterday witness Mohammed Makda told the court he saw one of the men wearing a yellow beanie hat urinating on the mosque.

Another was standing in front of the Iman’s entrance to the mosque waving a stick.

He said: "He had gone under the minaret and decided that he should do this as an extra insult.

"It looked like all the men were waiting for a cue. Maybe somebody makes a start like a kick-off.

"Everything is just happening in front of you and you are thinking any time they could come and chase you.”

Mr Makda said he expected something "dramatic or violent to happen."

He said: “They were shouting E, E, EDL, very arrogantly. It doesn’t sound nice at all. By that time I saw they were running off.”

Fiona Reynolds was driving down East Road when she saw a crowd in front of the mosque and on the other side of the road who she thought were worshippers.

She said: “I realised very quickly they were things being hurled and I could hear the noise, people shouting and egging each other on."

Mrs Reynolds said there was a bit of wood being thrown and a container of liquid being poured.

She said: “There was someone hanging on the front of the mosque trying to pull something off.

“I don’t know whether it was a sign or lighting.

“None of them were just standing by. They were all involved in what was going on.”

But she agreed with Stephen Earnshaw who is defending Terry Earl, 32, when he said: “It would be fair to say if someone was standing in Acre Road with their hands in their pockets doing nothing you wouldn’t be able to say one way or the other."

Joshua Titchner, who was walking along Acre Road, said: “They looked to form a really large group of guys wearing beanies.

"I thought they were carrying bottles and sticks at the time.

"It looked like a fairly rowdy group that me and my friend believed to be fairly intimidating.

"As the guy said come on guys it looked as if he was beckoning toward the mosque.”

Mr Titchner heard smashing glass and called the police, he told the jury.

He said: “As I saw it they seemed to be a coherent group, no stragglers.”

Police arrested some of the men in nearby roads. Others were arrested at their homes.

None of the witnesses who have appeared in court have so far been able to identify any of the nine defendants on trial.

Martin Pottle, 23, David Morris, 21, Alfie Wallace, 19, Terry Earl, 32, Adam Khalfan, 19, Paul Abley, 24, Karl Matthews, 21, Jordan Ellingham, 21, and James Stacey, 19, all deny violent disorder, affray and racially aggravated damage.