Speeches by Britain First ‘designed to incite hatred of Muslims’

Charges: Jayda Fransen A SPEECH in Belfast by the leader of far-right group Britain First was aimed at stirring up fear and hatred towards Muslims in Northern Ireland, a court heard yesterday.

Paul Golding (37) and his one-time deputy leader Jayda Fransen (32) are on trial over their Belfast City Hall addresses at a ‘Northern Ireland Against Terrorism’ event in August 2017.

They are accused of using threatening, abusive or insulting words intended to stir up hatred or arouse fear. They deny the charges.

Belfast Magistrates’ Court was shownfootageoftheevent.During his speech, Golding said: “We have got a problem with one religion and one religion only — that is Islam.”

The court heard Fransen told those gathered there was no moderate version of Islam, and said: “These people are baying for our blood.”

Crown lawyer Robin Steer drew a distinction between the speeches and a claim once made by former DUP leader Ian Paisley that the Pope was “the Antichrist”.

He contended: “It’s not the same as saying all Catholics should be killed or all Catholics are involved in a war against you.”

“The prosecution says this is nothing to do with either religion or terrorism, that it’s simply stirring up hatred.”

But Mark Farrell, representing Golding and Fransen, claimed they should be free to express reasonably held beliefs.

District Judge George Conner indicated he was likely to reserve his verdict in the case.