Viscount in court for ‘threatening’ anti-Brexit activist via Facebook
A VISCOUNT who threatened Brexit campaigner Gina Miller on Facebook also posted about torturing Tony Blair, a court heard.
Rhodri Philipps, 50, the 4th Viscount St Davids, wrote the message four days after Ms Miller won a landmark High Court challenge against the Government last year.
He posted: “£5,000 for the first person to ‘accidentally’ run over this bloody troublesome first generation immigrant.”
He described her as a “boat jumper”, adding: “If this is what we should expect from immigrants, send them back to their stinking jungles.”
Four days later he posted about “torturing Tony Blair, Hilary Clinton, ISIS, Dave (PM) the forgettable, Murdoch..... Oh and that hideous jumped up immigrant Gina Miller”.
Philipps, of Knightsbridge, central London, is on trial at Westminster Magistrates’ Court for three counts of sending menacing messages on a public electronic communications network.
In another post, in response to a news article about an immigrant, he wrote: “Please will someone ‘smoke’ this ghastly insult to our country. Why should I pay tax to feed these monkeys.”
Ms Miller, 52, said she found his comments about her “genuinely shocking” and felt “violated”.
She said she was “very scared for the safety of herself and her family” in a statement read to the court yesterday.
“In addition to finding it offensive, racist and hateful, she was extremely concerned that someone would threaten to have her run over for a bounty,” said prosecutor Philip Stott.
“She took the threat seriously, and it contributed to her employing professional security for her protection.”
Guyana-born Ms Miller was subjected to abuse and threats after spearheading the legal challenge which forced Theresa May to consult Parliament before beginning the formal process of leaving the EU.
Philipps, also known as Lord St Davids, has accepted writing the posts but said they were not publicly visible and were not menacing.