A BNP activist from Lancashire who wrote and distributed leaflets which blamed Muslims collectively for the heroin trade has been cleared of intending to incite religious hatred.
Anthony Bamber, 54, told a jury his intention was to create a debate about the "crime against humanity" that was the flow of the drug on to Britain's streets. He was responsible for heading a campaign which sent up to 30,000 of the leaflets by hand or post to targeted areas and individuals throughout the north of England over a 12-month period.
Bamber, of Greenbank Street, Preston pleaded not guilty to seven counts of distributing threatening written material intended to stir up religious hatred between March and November 2008. He was cleared by a jury at Preston Crown Court of all seven counts.
Representing himself, Bamber said there had been "no unpleasant incidents or social unrest" following the sending of the leaflets. Giving evidence last week, he explained they were targeted at educated professionals such as teachers, doctors, lawyers and clerics who were unlikely to take physical retribution against Muslims upon reading the literature. His aim was to create curiosity and interest which would then lead to a debate, he said.
The former part-time lecturer of politics and economics at the University of Central Lancashire in Preston said: "It was a desire to protest at what I say is a monstrous abomination. I believe I have the right to protest about the heroin trade.
"There are 400,000 heroin users in this country which is the equivalent of the size of a city like Liverpool. Half of these people are going to die. I wanted to scream out, I wanted society to pay much more attention to the heroin trade. It is ignored."
He added: "I do not want religious war, I do not want people to hate. I intended to do something about the heroin trade. I was not a monster stirring up religious hatred. I think it should be discussed and debated, and it will come (round) to my opinion that it is a crime against humanity. I believe I was doing a good thing."
Opening the case, David Perry QC, prosecuting, said the leaflets were filled with "hate speech" in which the obvious intention was to provoke hatred of Muslims.
Following the verdict, Detective Supt Neil Hunter, of Lancashire Constabulary's Force Major Investigation Team, said: "While we are disappointed with today's decision, we accept the decision of the court. We have worked very closely with the Crown Prosecution Service throughout this inquiry and careful consideration was given before any decision to charge was made."
Lancashire Evening Post
Showing posts with label Anthony Bamber. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Anthony Bamber. Show all posts
June 22, 2010
June 16, 2010
British National Party activist tried to 'stir up racial hatred' in Barnoldswick
A BNP activist tried to stir up religious hatred of Muslims in Barnoldswick by handing out contoversial leaflets, a court heard.
Anthony Bamber, 54, printed and then distributed documents entitled ‘The Heroin Trade’ which allegedly claimed followers of Islam were responsible for the sale of the drug on Britain’s streets, Preston Crown Court heard. The leaflet said the trade was a 'crime against humanity' and demanded that Muslims 'apologise and pay compensation' for the flow of heroin from Pakistan and Afghanistan, the court was told.
Bamber, from Preston, went with a friend to Barnoldswick in March 2008 and hand delivered the leaflets to a number of homes. One resident alerted police and officers arrived to speak to Bamber. He claimed he was trying to promote a group called Preston Pals, named after a First World War battalion who recruited from the city.
Bamber is also accused of delivering similar material across the north west and sending leaflets to a Cumbrian school and two Manchester barristers.
David Perry QC, prosecuting, said: “The defendant distributed leaflets and letters by hand or by post which were threatening and he did so with the intention of creating or stirring up religious hatred, and the religion he directed the hatred towards was Islam. This case is about hate speech. That is speech designed to arouse hatred against members of a social group identified by a particular characteristic. In this case the social group is Muslims and the characteristic they share is religion, namely Islam. The objective of the letters and leaflets, the prosecution say, was to provoke hatred of Islam. The hatred was not directed just at the concept but at the followers of Islam - Muslims.”
Bamber, who is representing himself in court, denies seven charges of distributing material designed to incite religious hatred.
Mr Perry said: “They (the Preston Pals) have got nothing whatsoever to do with the BNP and nothing whatsoever to do with the hatred of Islam. Why that name was being used is not really known."
Lancashire Telegraph
Anthony Bamber, 54, printed and then distributed documents entitled ‘The Heroin Trade’ which allegedly claimed followers of Islam were responsible for the sale of the drug on Britain’s streets, Preston Crown Court heard. The leaflet said the trade was a 'crime against humanity' and demanded that Muslims 'apologise and pay compensation' for the flow of heroin from Pakistan and Afghanistan, the court was told.
Bamber, from Preston, went with a friend to Barnoldswick in March 2008 and hand delivered the leaflets to a number of homes. One resident alerted police and officers arrived to speak to Bamber. He claimed he was trying to promote a group called Preston Pals, named after a First World War battalion who recruited from the city.
Bamber is also accused of delivering similar material across the north west and sending leaflets to a Cumbrian school and two Manchester barristers.
David Perry QC, prosecuting, said: “The defendant distributed leaflets and letters by hand or by post which were threatening and he did so with the intention of creating or stirring up religious hatred, and the religion he directed the hatred towards was Islam. This case is about hate speech. That is speech designed to arouse hatred against members of a social group identified by a particular characteristic. In this case the social group is Muslims and the characteristic they share is religion, namely Islam. The objective of the letters and leaflets, the prosecution say, was to provoke hatred of Islam. The hatred was not directed just at the concept but at the followers of Islam - Muslims.”
Bamber, who is representing himself in court, denies seven charges of distributing material designed to incite religious hatred.
Mr Perry said: “They (the Preston Pals) have got nothing whatsoever to do with the BNP and nothing whatsoever to do with the hatred of Islam. Why that name was being used is not really known."
Lancashire Telegraph
June 14, 2010
BNP activist 'delivered anti-Muslim leaflets'
A British National Party activist delivered leaflets of "hate speech" intended to stir up religious hatred of Muslims, a court heard today.
Anthony Bamber, 54, printed and then distributed documents entitled The Heroin Trade which allegedly claimed followers of Islam were responsible for the sale of the drug on Britain's streets. It said the trade was a "crime against humanity" and demanded that Muslims
"apologise and pay compensation" for the flow of heroin from Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Preston Crown Court was told Bamber, of Preston, Lancashire, targeted various people across the North West in his leaflet drops between March and November 2008, including a school in Sedbergh, Cumbria, two barristers in Manchester, and addresses in Harrogate.
David Perry QC, prosecuting, said: "The defendant distributed leaflets and letters by hand or by post which were threatening and he did so with the intention of creating or stirring up religious hatred, and the religion he directed the hatred towards was Islam. This case is about hate speech. That is speech designed to arouse hatred against members of a social group identified by a particular characteristic.
"In this case the social group is Muslims and the characteristic they share is religion, namely Islam. The objective of the letters and leaflets, the prosecution say, was to provoke hatred of Islam. The hatred was not directed just at the concept but at the followers of Islam - Muslims."
In March 2008, Bamber and another man visited Barnoldswick, Lancashire, where they delivered the leaflets by hand, the court heard. A householder in the area contacted the police, who arrived and spoke to the defendant, Mr Perry said.
"The defendant admitted he had been distributing the leaflets and he said his purpose was to promote an organisation known as the Preston Pals," the prosecutor said. The Preston Pals was a battalion which fought in the First World War which recruited its members from the city.
Mr Perry said: "They (the Preston Pals) have got nothing whatsoever to do with the BNP and nothing whatsoever to do with the hatred of Islam. Why that name was being used is not really known. The defendant also said that the leaflet was inspected by a lawyer who informed him that the material could not be interpreted as provoking religious or religious hatred."
The jury was told the leaflet said 95% of heroin traded in the UK came from the Pakistan and Afghanistan region and was a "crime against humanity". It continued: "Before the Islamic invasion it was impossible to find heroin in our land. Muslims are almost exclusively responsible for its production, transportation and sale. It is a crime against humanity because it has caused far more suffering than slavery ever did. It has led to millions of premature deaths."
Taxpayers were also victims due to the cost of policing and rehabilitation for which Muslims must compensate, the leaflet added. Muslims should be held to account with condemnation heaped upon them so that it would lead to the abolition of the trade, it concluded. The leaflet was labelled a Preston Pals publication which was "committed to non-violent democratic resistance" and was set up in honour of the soldiers in a "campaign on behalf of indigenous communities".
Mr Perry said the real intention of the leaflet was "obvious".
"It is no doubt intended to be dramatic. It is no doubt intended to capture the imagination and say 'look at what these people are doing, they are all criminals'," he said. "The crime of drug trafficking was the collective responsibility of all Muslims - according to the leaflet - and they were all being "tarred with the same brush".
He told the jury the tone of the leaflet could be seen as "militaristic and menacing" rather than promoting a non-violent and democratic cause.
"You may think it is intolerant, bigoted and intended to be divisive. It is blaming Islam with contestable and questionable assertions of facts and stoking resentment. The prosecution say that the overall message is that Muslims are killing British youths and they must themselves be made to pay and it is your duty to make them pay. They are 'the invader'."
In June 2008 the headteacher of Sedbergh School received a large brown envelope which contained a number of letters addressed to individual teachers. The letters were along similar lines to the leaflet and called for Muslims to be held to account for the heroin trade.
"We know we are asking a lot," it said. "There are many dangers with confronting the Muslim invader."
Mr Perry said: "The letter makes it clear that all Muslims are to be held to account and it makes it clear that all Muslims are culpable."
Similar material was also sent to two barristers in Manchester and addresses in Lytham and Eccleston, Lancashire, and Harrogate, North Yorkshire, the court was told. Bamber, of Greenbank Street, who is representing himself, denies seven counts of distributing threatening written material intended to stir up religious hatred.
The trial is expected to last up to two weeks.
Yorkshire Post
Anthony Bamber, 54, printed and then distributed documents entitled The Heroin Trade which allegedly claimed followers of Islam were responsible for the sale of the drug on Britain's streets. It said the trade was a "crime against humanity" and demanded that Muslims
"apologise and pay compensation" for the flow of heroin from Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Preston Crown Court was told Bamber, of Preston, Lancashire, targeted various people across the North West in his leaflet drops between March and November 2008, including a school in Sedbergh, Cumbria, two barristers in Manchester, and addresses in Harrogate.
David Perry QC, prosecuting, said: "The defendant distributed leaflets and letters by hand or by post which were threatening and he did so with the intention of creating or stirring up religious hatred, and the religion he directed the hatred towards was Islam. This case is about hate speech. That is speech designed to arouse hatred against members of a social group identified by a particular characteristic.
"In this case the social group is Muslims and the characteristic they share is religion, namely Islam. The objective of the letters and leaflets, the prosecution say, was to provoke hatred of Islam. The hatred was not directed just at the concept but at the followers of Islam - Muslims."
In March 2008, Bamber and another man visited Barnoldswick, Lancashire, where they delivered the leaflets by hand, the court heard. A householder in the area contacted the police, who arrived and spoke to the defendant, Mr Perry said.
"The defendant admitted he had been distributing the leaflets and he said his purpose was to promote an organisation known as the Preston Pals," the prosecutor said. The Preston Pals was a battalion which fought in the First World War which recruited its members from the city.
Mr Perry said: "They (the Preston Pals) have got nothing whatsoever to do with the BNP and nothing whatsoever to do with the hatred of Islam. Why that name was being used is not really known. The defendant also said that the leaflet was inspected by a lawyer who informed him that the material could not be interpreted as provoking religious or religious hatred."
The jury was told the leaflet said 95% of heroin traded in the UK came from the Pakistan and Afghanistan region and was a "crime against humanity". It continued: "Before the Islamic invasion it was impossible to find heroin in our land. Muslims are almost exclusively responsible for its production, transportation and sale. It is a crime against humanity because it has caused far more suffering than slavery ever did. It has led to millions of premature deaths."
Taxpayers were also victims due to the cost of policing and rehabilitation for which Muslims must compensate, the leaflet added. Muslims should be held to account with condemnation heaped upon them so that it would lead to the abolition of the trade, it concluded. The leaflet was labelled a Preston Pals publication which was "committed to non-violent democratic resistance" and was set up in honour of the soldiers in a "campaign on behalf of indigenous communities".
Mr Perry said the real intention of the leaflet was "obvious".
"It is no doubt intended to be dramatic. It is no doubt intended to capture the imagination and say 'look at what these people are doing, they are all criminals'," he said. "The crime of drug trafficking was the collective responsibility of all Muslims - according to the leaflet - and they were all being "tarred with the same brush".
He told the jury the tone of the leaflet could be seen as "militaristic and menacing" rather than promoting a non-violent and democratic cause.
"You may think it is intolerant, bigoted and intended to be divisive. It is blaming Islam with contestable and questionable assertions of facts and stoking resentment. The prosecution say that the overall message is that Muslims are killing British youths and they must themselves be made to pay and it is your duty to make them pay. They are 'the invader'."
In June 2008 the headteacher of Sedbergh School received a large brown envelope which contained a number of letters addressed to individual teachers. The letters were along similar lines to the leaflet and called for Muslims to be held to account for the heroin trade.
"We know we are asking a lot," it said. "There are many dangers with confronting the Muslim invader."
Mr Perry said: "The letter makes it clear that all Muslims are to be held to account and it makes it clear that all Muslims are culpable."
Similar material was also sent to two barristers in Manchester and addresses in Lytham and Eccleston, Lancashire, and Harrogate, North Yorkshire, the court was told. Bamber, of Greenbank Street, who is representing himself, denies seven counts of distributing threatening written material intended to stir up religious hatred.
The trial is expected to last up to two weeks.
Yorkshire Post
August 10, 2009
'Racist' leaflet suspect charged
The notoriously racist 'Preston Pals' leafletAnthony Bamber, 53, of Greenbank Street, Preston, will appear at Preston Magistrates Court on Wednesday charged with incitement to commit religious hatred. Three other people arrested last year in connection with the investigation have been released from their police bail.
A 41-year-old man from Nelson, a 44 year-old man from Darwen, and a 57-year-old man from Nelson were all arrested on Wednesday, November 19 2008 on suspicion of the publication and distribution of written material intended to stir up racial hatred and the possession of racially inflammatory material. However they will not now face any charges.
Lancashire Evening Post
More info on the leaflet in question can be found here and here.
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