Two men convicted of publishing race-hate articles on the internet have skipped bail and fled to the United States to claim political asylum, the Yorkshire Post can reveal.
Simon Sheppard and Stephen Whittle were given bail by a judge at Leeds Crown Court on Friday, despite having been found guilty of a series of race-related offences. The pair were due to return to court on Monday while a jury continued deliberating over further charges, but they failed to show up.
Last night Sheppard, 51, and Whittle, 41, were being held by immigration officials at Los Angeles Airport – outside the jurisdiction of the British court system.
It is believed that the pair travelled from the UK to Ireland by ferry before taking a direct flight to Los Angeles. They are likely to have their case considered at an immigration hearing in the US before UK authorities can secure their return.
A spokeswoman for Humberside Police, which led the race-hate investigation, said: "We are led to believe that they are indeed being detained by the Immigration and Naturalisation Service (INS) at Los Angeles Airport. They are in custody and we are in liaison with the INS to establish that this pair are our two men and, if so, what is likely to happen to them."
Sheppard, of Brook Street, Selby, was found guilty after a seven-week trial of 11 counts of publishing racially inflammatory written material. The jury gave unanimous verdicts on nine of the charges on Friday, and returned with two majority verdicts on Monday while Sheppard was absent.
Whittle, of Avenham Lane, Preston, was convicted of five counts of publishing racially inflammatory written material. Four of the verdicts were reached unanimously on Friday, and the fifth was returned by a majority of 10 to one on Monday after Whittle had absconded.
The jury were unable to reach verdicts on seven further race-related charges which Sheppard faced. A spokeswoman for the Crown Prosecution Service said it had yet to decide whether Sheppard should be retried on the seven outstanding charges. It has 14 days to reach a decision.
The case is due to be considered further at a hearing at Leeds Crown Court on July 28.
Yorkshire Post
July 16, 2008
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8 comments:
They insult the Jews and then claim asylum in the USA, ha ha. Out of the frying pan into the fire.
Nutzis Simon Sheppard and Stephen Whittle should remember that the US government has already deported at least one leading BNP member as an ’undesirable alien’, Mark Cotterill, the founder the American Friends of BNP.
The BNP’s legal director Lee Barnes has come out in support of nutzis Simon Sheppard and Stephen Whittle in an article entitled, ‘The Shepherd Trial - ILLEGAL AND UNLAWFUL’
(http://leejohnbarnes.blogspot.com/2008/07/shepherd-trial-illegal-and-unlawful.html).
Lee Barnes claims that former BNP organiser Simon Sheppard’s conviction is “unlawful” and that both Sheppard and Whittle “should not have been found guilty”.
And, on rumours that Sheppard and Whittle have fled to the Turkish part of Cyprus, Lee Barnes still manages to fit in the following stupid and racist comment:
“No doubt the shepherd two are on a beach somewhere surrounded by swarthy cypriots”.
Lee Barnes and the BNP are such racist morons.
Wander if they will get the backing of the "American Friends Of The BNP?"
Or will Don Black, friend of Nicholas Griffin Esquire, help pay their lawyer?
If so, Simon Sheppard the owner of Redwatch will become a trusted associate of Nick Griffin, and Redwatch will officially carry the BNP stamp of approval.
They think, by doing this, they will get press coverage by rightwing tabloids as "martrys", as before now, one man and his dog were paying attention to the case.
In truth, they are tits of the lowest order, and it shows how lily-livered the British far right are.
I hope, now Redwatch is being run by a fugitive wanted by the law, that the British Authorities immediately get it closed down, and do the same to the anti-semitic "Heritical Press" also.
I see your Lancaster BNP mate Chris Hill has taken a pop at Lee Barnes over on the Voice of Whatsit blog. That should please the publicity-loving legal dickhead
Am I mistaken but didn't the Lancaster BNP blog once threaten to take legal action against RedWatch for publishing a photo of Ketlan, that they said they held the copyright to without their permission. Now the BNP are supporting RedWatch members on the run from justice, why the change in attitude. Or do the BNP now support all convicted criminals on the run?
Now there's two asylum seekers I would like to see deported immediately.
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