From what Cult Watch UK has been able to piece together from various press and police reports, Mehdi Zand and two of his followers viciously attacked two former members of the group at a restaurant in Hertfordshire late last year. The owner of the restaurant and one of his employees, both former members of the group, were in the restaurant, which was locked at the time, when the trio broke into the restaurant and severely injured both victims - one was so badly injured he had to undergo facial reconstruction surgery. It seems that Mehdi Zand and his followers were trying to take out some type of revenge on the former members for leaving the group.
Amazingly enough, even though neither Mehdi Zand nor his two followers were injured and the two victims were severely harmed, the trio pleaded innocent to all charges against them at the trial. They then pleaded guilty on the 15th of July in what would seem to be some type of plea bargain and were sentenced by the Crown Court in St Albans on the 25th of September. Cult leader Zand got 2 years in prison (which, according to reports, means he will be in prison for a further six months at a minimum, following previous jail time served before the trial), while Francesco Zand (who apparently changed his last name in order to show his devotion to the group's leader) came away with the harshest sentence of 7 years in jail, and Mohammed Kashefi (the other follower) receiving 2 years.
Mehdi Zand pleaded guilty to encouraging his two followers to commit violent acts and also committing them himself (violent disorder); F. Zand pleaded guilty to both grievous bodily harm with intent and attempted grievous bodily harm with intent; and Kashefi pleaded guilty to actual bodily harm.
You can find a picture of convicted cult leader Zand on the Hertfordshire Constabulary's website (along with a full report of the attack and sentencing), and Cult Watch UK is pleased to see that wikipedia has placed this dangerous man on its List of Convicted Religious Leaders. We are also encouraged to learn that most of The World of Yaad's followers seem to have left the group about 2 years ago following revelations about various forms of abuse the that members had undergone during their time with the group (including psychological and sexual), and that only a handful of devotees are reported to remain part of the group besides Zand's own family members.
Other news organisations and sites covering this case can be found below.
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