Suspended Labour councillor cleared of encouraging violent disorder after calling for far-right protesters’ throats to be cut
Suspended Labour councillor Ricky Jones, 58, has been found not guilty at Snaresbrook Crown Court of encouraging violent disorder after he called for far-right protesters’ throats to be cut.
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Mr Jones made the comments at a counter-protest after far-right riots spread across the country in the wake of the Southport murders.
In the wake of rioting after the Southport murders last summer, Ricky Jones, 58, described far-right activists as “disgusting Nazi fascists”, his trial at Snaresbrook Crown Court heard.
A video showing Jones addressing the crowd in Walthamstow, east London, on August 7 last year, went viral on social media after the protest.
Wearing a black polo top and surrounded by cheering supporters, the councillor said: “You’ve got women and children using these trains during the summer holidays.
“They don’t give a shit about who they hurt.
“They are disgusting Nazi fascists. We need to cut all their throats and get rid of them all.”
He also drew his finger across his throat as he spoke to the crowd.
Jones, who has been a borough councillor in Dartford, Kent, since 2019, was suspended by the Labour Party the day after the incident.
Prosecutor Ben Holt previously told the court Jones, a father of four and grandfather, used “inflammatory, rabble-rousing language in the throng of a crowd described as a tinderbox”.
He told jurors Jones’s speech was amplified through a microphone and speakers and took place “in a setting where violence could readily have been anticipated”.
Giving evidence in his trial, Jones said his comment did not refer to far-right protesters involved in the riots at the time, but to those who had reportedly left National Front stickers on a train with razor blades hidden behind them.
Before he made the comment, jurors were shown video where he said to crowds: “You’ve got women and children using these trains during the summer holidays.
“They don’t give a shit about who they hurt.”
He told the court he was “appalled” by political violence, adding: “I’ve always believed the best way to make people realise who you are and what you are is to do it peacefully.”
Jones, who said he was on the left of the Labour Party, previously told jurors the riots had made him feel “upset” and “angry” and said he felt it was his “duty” to attend counter-protests, despite being warned to stay away from such demonstrations by the Labour Party.