BNP leader walks free from court
BNP leader Nick Griffin walked free from court after he was cleared of two race hate charges.
A jury failed to reach verdicts on two further allegations he faced and was discharged. Now the 46-year-old Cambridge graduate must wait to find out if he is to face a retrial.
Griffin emerged from Leeds Crown Court saying he was vindicated over calling Islam a "wicked, vicious faith" and said he had nothing to apologise about in relation to the speeches he made which landed him in the dock.
He was prosecuted alongside fellow BNP activist Mark Collett after police investigated six speeches made by the pair in West Yorkshire in 2004.
They were recorded by an undercover reporter and formed part of a documentary on the party called The Secret Agent, which was watched by five million people on BBC1.
He was acquitted of using words intended or likely to stir up racial hatred in relation to a speech he made at Morley Town Hall, near Leeds.
Collett was cleared of charges in relation to two speeches and the jury failed to reach verdicts in relation to two others.
Griffin said: "If the Crown Prosecution Service feel they must continue to persecute us for speaking the truth, we will see them in court."
Griffin, of Llanerfyl, Powys, denied two counts of using words intended to stir up racial hatred and two of an alternative charge of using words likely to stir up racial hatred. These related to two separate speeches. The jury failed to reach a verdict in respect to one of the speeches.
Collett, of Swithland Lane, Rothley, Leicestershire, denied four charges of using words intended to stir up racial hatred and four of using words likely to stir up racial hatred. These relate to four speeches he made. He was cleared in relation to two speeches and the jury failed to reach a verdict in relation to the others.
Bloody wankers. Everybody knows what they stand for.
posted February 02, 2006 15:38
