BNP paedophile locked up

Nigel Hesmondhalgh - another BNP racist and paedophile

A British National Party supporter who launched a four-year race hate campaign against his neighbours has been jailed for possessing child pornography.

Nigel Hesmondhalgh from Hyndburn, Lancashire, was imprisoned for nine months at Burnley Crown Court after a series of degrading photos and videos of children were found on his home computer. Judge Simon Newell also ordered him to sign the sex offenders’ register for 10 years. Hesmondhalgh, 37, had only just been released from a 30-week prison sentence for racially aggravated harassment imposed last March when police raided his home in November.

His computer was seized and found to contain no fewer than 29 indecent images of children, and 11 similar videos. Four of the pictures, and three of the videos, were graded at level four, the second most serious category of child pornography.

Police had obtained a two-year antisocial behaviour order against him before his release to prevent him from throwing dog dirt into his neighbours’ garden and using racist language towards an Asian family. In July 2009 Hesmondhalgh narrowly escaped jail after repeatedly abusing and insulting his Asian neighbours. He piled dog dirt up in the alley outside their home and told them: “It’s a white country, not a Muslim state”.

Hesmondhalgh, who had a BNP sticker in the window of his home, repeatedly picked on the wife of the couple and told the husband that he should be scared and shouted support for the BNP.

He admitted racially aggravated intentional harassment, alarm or distress. Burnley Crown Court heard that he had almost 90 previous convictions and has been flouting the law since he was 11. At the time of the offence he was on bail for similar allegations which were left to lie on the file. He was given 36 weeks in custody suspended for two years with 18 months supervision and a requirement to attend the Thinking Skills programme.

Hesmondhalgh’s conviction follows those of two BNP members in November 2008 for sexual activity with 14-year-old girls. Ian Hindle and Andrew Wells gained further notoriety when they appeared in an investigation in The Times this week on grooming of young girls for sex by men of south Asian ethnicity. Hindle and Wells were two of the only three white offenders among the 56 on-street grooming cases the paper examined. The BNP said it expelled the two after publicity about their convictions.

Hope not hate

Two jailed over Panorama Southmead race abuse probe

Two men who racially abused two Asian reporters working undercover for a BBC Panorama programme have been jailed.

Sean Ganderton, 23, and Martin Durnell, 18, admitted racially-aggravated harassment during various incidents in Southmead, Bristol, last year. Bristol Crown Court was shown footage which revealed Ganderton verbally and physically abusing the men.

Sentencing them Judge Michael Roach said their behaviour was "cowardly and not to be tolerated".

The programme featured the two undercover Asian reporters posing as a couple living in the Southmead area of Bristol. Tamanna Rahman and Amil Khan spent two months living on an estate to find out if racism was still an issue in 2009.

The programme was broadcast on BBC One in October 2009.

BBC

Thanks to PMcC for the heads-up.

Romford scouts investigated over anti-Jewish chants

Members of explorer troop shouted 'kill the Jews' at veterans during remembrance parade

A scout troop is being investigated by the police after its members shouted death threats and racist abuse at Jewish war veterans during a remembrance parade. Dressed in full uniform, the explorer scouts, who were taking part in Remembrance Sunday service in Romford, Essex were heard to repeatedly shout "Let's kill the Jews" at Jewish second world war veterans.

The head of the scouts in the area has issued a full apology for the incident, which was witnessed by a senior policeman standing a few feet away. A Metropolitan police spokesman said the Met was investigating two allegations of "racially aggravated harassment" involving more than one member of the Romford explorer scout unit. He would not say how many scouts were involved.

The Rev Lee Sunderland, who was taking part in the service, expressed shock after hearing the scouts shout: "Here come the Jews, let's kill the Jews." Other witnesses said the racists chants were started by a boy believed to be 15 years old. One of the troop has since come forward and been interviewed by police. He has been ordered by the Scout Association to visit the rabbi of the Romford and district synagogue to apologise in person.

Jack Rose from the synagogue said: "They were boy scouts who are supposed to be true to their cause. Somewhere along the line someone has been completely stupid or they really think these things."

Rose said Chief Inspector John Harlow witnessed the incident. He took statements from other witnesses and delivered a stern reprimand to the scouts for their behaviour.

Paul Freedman, an 84-year-old Jewish former RAF pilot who laid a wreath at the service, challenged the scouts. "I was absolutely fuming ... I told them I was a Jew and I'd spent four and a half years in the RAF during the second world war, and that Jewish people had sacrificed so much for freedom," he told the Evening Standard.

The county commissioner of greater London north-east scouts, Dean Jefferys, issued a letter of apology to the synagogue. He said he was "shocked and appalled" and that all scout members offered their "most sincere and profound apologies".

"I understand that a senior police officer spoke to all of the explorer scouts at the time of the incident. All the young people were left in no doubt as to the seriousness of the remarks and the consequence of further such behaviour."

Simon Carter, a spokesman of the Scout Association, said the scout who confessed to starting the chant flouted the scouting ethos. "As scouts we promise to do our duty and to help other people. Clearly this child has not lived up to this promise."

Guardian

Schoolgirl victim of racist bullying says tormentor's sentence is 'pants'

A schoolgirl driven to the brink of suicide by the taunts of a racist classmate described her tormentor’s sentence as "pants" after he was allowed to walk free from court. The victim, a 14-year-old mixed race girl, was repeatedly insulted with racist terms for six months by a 15-year-old, BNP supporting fellow pupil.

Last month the boy became the first school child to be convicted of racially aggravated harassment of a fellow pupil following a trial at Lincoln Youth Court. The conviction prompted questions over whether such racist bullying should be dealt with through criminal law or by schools themselves.

The boy could have been detained for up to two years in a young offenders’ institution but he was instead sentenced to a six month supervision order and made to pay £500 compensation to the girl, which will be paid by his father. He was also instructed to do 10 hours indirect reparation, the equivalent of community service. Another 15-year-old boy facing the same charge was found not guilty after a trial.

The victim, who tried to kill herself with an overdose of stress pills and painkillers, said she was "disappointed" with the sentence. She said: "When my mum told me the sentence I just thought 'Is that it? That's pants.' He has got a slap on the wrists and been told he was a naughty boy - that's all. He has not paid the price for what he has put me through and he will never have to suffer like I have. I want him to be out into a multi-cultural school where he is one of the only white pupils to see what it feels like to be in the minority. I want him to be in my shoes and see how he copes with that."

The girl, who is of mixed white English and black African heritage, was called "wog", "coon", "nigger", "gorilla" and "golliwog" by the boy. She also suffered abusive chants of "white, white, white is right, kick them out, fight, fight, fight" and was repeatedly told: "Go back to your own country, you don't belong here."

She wrote a suicide note and took an overdose on Jan 25 this year. She was then sectioned for six weeks in a psychiatric hospital before the family moved to a different part of the country.

After the sentencing her mother said: "He has ruined her life. This will be with her forever and she cannot just pick up and start again. We will always have the problem of mental health issues. He bullied her to the extent she actually wanted to die but he had no remorse. When he was found guilty we were on a high and thought we would finally get justice. But now we feel we have put ourselves out there and not got anything back.

During the case it emerged the boy was a known BNP supporter who actively tried to enlist other youths.

The victim’s mother said: "It's very sad and comes from ignorance more than anything. My daughter is British, she was born in this country and has a British passport. But they just think everyone living in the UK should be white and English.”

Telegraph

Racist BNP teenager pushed girl, 14, to the brink of suicide

The BNP: racist, violent thugs, as always

A teenage BNP supporter who drove a classmate to the brink of suicide has been convicted of racial harassment in a landmark legal case

The youth, 15, subjected his female victim to months of racist abuse, on one occasion telling her: 'Go back to your own country, you don't belong here.'

A court heard the 14-year-old girl - who had already moved schools once to avoid racist abuse - was also called 'wog, coon, nigger, gorilla and golliwog' by her tormentor. He taunted her with chants of 'white, white, white is right, kick them out, fight, fight, fight' - taken from a film about football hooliganism.

But the girl feared reporting the abuse would make him become violent and instead suffered in silence, the court was told. The victim, who has mixed white English and black African heritage, endured the abuse for four months before she attempted suicide in January this year.

A source close to the case said the teenager, who, like his victim, cannot be named for legal reasons, was a BNP supporter who had actively tried to enlist other youths. Raymond Wildsmith, prosecuting, told Lincoln Youth Court the insults happened 'again and again and again' - anything up to four times a week. But the girl only revealed her torment after she tried to kill herself. She took a mixture of stress pills and painkillers in January before writing a note telling her family that she did not want a 'sad funeral'.

Giving evidence by video link, the girl told a police officer the abuse made her 'want to die'. She added: 'I wanted to die because of everything that was happening at school. I thought, "Do I want to do this?" And then I thought, "Yes, I don't want to be here".

Last night, her mother described her daughter's tormentor as 'evil'. She said: 'He seemed to mimic everything his father did and became a ringleader of a violent set of boys at the school.' She told how her daughter left a suicide note requesting that nobody wore black at her funeral. She said: 'My world fell apart. I had no idea that there was anything wrong with her. At home she put on a brave face and seemed totally normal.'

The teenager was hospitalised and then sectioned in a psychiatric hospital for several weeks. She has been out of school virtually ever since but is due to start at a new school in a different part of the country in September. The mother reported the girl's ordeal to the school and police, but said she had a 'long hard fight to get justice for my daughter'.

She added: 'When I first informed the school, they as good as called me a liar. I then had a long battle convincing the police to take this seriously. They were desperately slow and interviewed 25 people before they seemed to appreciate the seriousness of it.' The court was told that the girl had only been in the Lincoln area for a year before the abuse started.

Her 15-year-old tormentor, who denied the charge, was convicted of racially aggravated harassment. He will be sentenced on August 13. A second 15-year-old was cleared of the same charge.

The Crown Prosecution Service confirmed it was the first successful prosecution of a schoolchild for racial abuse in the UK. Jaswant Narwal, Chief Crown Prosecutor for Lincolnshire said: 'We would like to thank the victim for her courage in coming forward and strongly encourage other young people in the same situation to report to the police when they have been targets of campaign of racial bullying.'

Mail Online

Accrington BNP supporter spared jail after targeting Asian family

A man who made his Asian next door neighbours’ lives a misery with his anti-social and racist conduct was spared immediate jail.

Burnley Crown Court heard how Nigel Hesmondhalgh, 36, who had a British National Party sticker in the window of his Accrington home, was abusive and insulting to the couple, repeatedly picking on the wife. He piled dog dirt up in the alley outside their home and told them: “It’s a white country, not a Muslim state.”

Hesmondhalgh, said to be the carer for his brother, who has learning difficulties, told the husband of the couple he should be scared and shouted support for the BNP.

The couple had lived in their home for 14 years before he moved in. The defendant, who has since moved but wants to go back to the property on Higher Antley Street, had earlier admitted racially aggravated intentional harassment, alarm or distress.

Hesmondhalgh, who has almost 90 previous convictions and has been flouting the law since he was 11, had struck while on bail for similar allegations which were left to lie on the file. He kept his freedom but his hostile and anti-social conduct was slammed by a judge, who warned the courts would not tolerate it.

The defendant, of Stanley Street, Accrington, was given 36 weeks in custody, suspended for two years, with 18 months supervision and the Thinking Skills programme.

Martin Hackett, defending, said the offence was unpleasant. Hesmondhalgh had been very close to his mother who died last July and he may have been adjusting.

Lancashire Telegraph

BNP organiser arrested over harassment claim

The British National Party’s regional organiser in the North-East has been arrested on suspicion of racially aggravated harassment, The Northern Echo has learnt.

Ken Booth, who lives in Fenham, Newcastle, was arrested yesterday by Northumbria Police and bailed pending further inquiries. Mr Booth’s arrest is understood to have followed a complaint made to police by a Muslim councillor in the city.

The 54-year-old, who is standing in the European elections in the spring and has previously stood for Newcastle City Council, in Fenham, took over the role of regional organiser for the party from Kevin Scott in 2006. He is expected to answer bail at a police station in the city in the middle of next month.

Mr Booth would not directly comment on his arrest when contacted by The Echo, but a spokesman for the party said it was an example of “politically correct Britain”. He said: “The public can see what is happening and I am sure that in this particular instance we, as a party, have got nothing to fear. People in the North-East are sick and tired of this politically correct nonsense.”

Mr Booth, who describes himself on the BNP website as the single parent of three boys and an elected parent governor, has stood for the party several times in local elections. In January, he finished in third place in a by-election for the Fenham ward. Last year, Mr Booth hit out at efforts to “destabilise” the BNP after his and the details of hundreds of other party members were leaked onto the internet.

A Northumbria Police spokeswoman said: “We can confirm a 54-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of racially aggravated harassment and has been bailed pending further inquiries.”

Acting Chief Inspector Sav Patsalos, of Northumbria police, added: “When any such incidents are brought to our attention they are treated very seriously and we take appropriate action.”

A spokesman for Newcastle City Council said: “It is a police matter and we are not prepared to comment.”

The Northern Echo

Arrests made after racist abuse in Gateshead

Several arrests have been made following allegations of racist abuse in a Tyneside community.

Police in Gateshead stepped up patrols in the Bensham and Saltwell area, home to around 5,000 Jews, amid fears Jews could be targeted because of events in Gaza in the Middle East.

Officers received reports of abuse towards members of the Jewish community on Bewick Road, and windows at a Jewish building were damaged last Friday. Two boys, aged 14 and 15, were arrested for affray and racially-aggravated criminal damage. Then on Sunday night, there were reports of a man driving on Coatsworth Road shouting abuse. An 18-year-old male youth was arrested for racially-aggravated harassment.

As violence escalates in Gaza, police have been keeping a watchful eye on the community but they say neither of the incidents appear to be related the conflict.

Gateshead Central Neighbourhood Inspector, Peter Storey said: “The first incident involved two local boys shouting racial abuse at Jewish students and breaking a window of a Jewish building. The second was someone shouting abuse as they went by in a car. These are infrequent offences which happen in the Gateshead area from time to time. But they are in no way, shape or form connected with the events in Gaza. It is disorder that got out of hand. We have got extra patrols in the area but no-one in the community has change their patterns or behaviour. It is business as usual.”

It is understood that the victims of the abuse were pupils at local Jewish schools. Mrs Bas, of the Gateshead Hebrew Congregation, said the abuse had been frightening.

She said: “I didn’t actually see anything but I’ve heard exactly what happened. In the first incident, a group of girls from the college were just passing by when they all of a sudden were chased and had abuse shouted at them. The people chasing them broke windows, including some car windows.

“It’s frightening, really, and it must have been particularly frightening for the girls involved. In the second incident, some people started fighting with a group of boys from the college. It really must be made clear that this sort of racial behaviour is not going to be tolerated.”

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