Criminal records and extreme or violent affiliation of some BNP organizers
A number of prominent members of the BNP have been reported as:
having been convicted of a wide range of offences, including assault, inciting racial hatred, and offences under the Explosives Act (see Tony Lecomber); or having had previous connections with Ulster loyalist paramilitary organisations, extremist or neo-Nazi groups, or with football violence.
The BNP dismisses these instances as past misdemeanours, however, there are present day criminal charges brought against BNP members, including for assault, racism, and other activities.
While they claim any individuals involved with criminality would be immediately expelled from the BNP, Brian Turner, a Burnley local authority BNP councillor found guilty of attacking his wife and a police officer – has recently been told he will keep his job. Turner was arrested on February 5, 2005 at Cuthbert Street in Burnley, after reports of a domestic violence incident at a house in St Cuthbert Street, Burnley. The court was told at a previous hearing how Turner, who has eleven previous convictions, was aggressive towards the police officer who tried to restrain him, and kicked him in the leg. The party has said it is supporting him and his place on Burnley Borough Council, while opposition councillors repeatedly called for his resignation.
The BNP emphasises that over 20% of the working population has some criminal record or another: however the percentage of elected politicians with criminal records belonging to mainstream political parties, is much lower and many of the offences committed by the BNP are substantially more serious than the offences typically committed by the general population of minor criminals, and that the people named are "leading members" of the BNP.
Tony Lecomber, is a convicted bomber and racist attacker, almost killing a man on the London Underground. He was never expelled from the party, and is now the BNP's national development officer.
Jason Douglas took 10% of the poll on the sprawling Hainault estate in the London Borough of Redbridge on a "law and order" platform, despite the revelation during the campaign that he has football hooligan convictions going back fourteen years.
The BNP argues that it does not and cannot completely vet every single member and that it is impossible to know the proportion of members with a criminal conviction in any party.
Joe Owens, a BNP candidate in Merseyside in 2004, was a close associate of Nick Griffin and acted as his personal bodyguard. Owens was convicted of sending razor-blades to Jewish people in the post during the 1980s, and also had a well-established history of participating in non-political gangland violence in Liverpool over the past three decades, resulting in several convictions. More recently he and BNP youth leader Tony Wentworth were convicted of assaulting several demonstrators at an anti-BNP event in 2003. Owens quit the party in 2004 after a dispute with Nick Griffin, though Wentworth remains a member, and the leader of the BNP youth movement.
BNP member Simon Sheppard was sentenced to nine months imprisonment at Hull Crown Court on Wednesday 14 June 2000 for the crime of "Publishing or Distributing racially inflammatory material." Sheppard produced and still produces a website entitled "Heretical Press" which dwells at length on his hatred of both Jews and women. Whilst misogyny is the prevalent theme of his website, it was the Holocaust Denial of the site which led to his prosecution. The page remains in existence, containing gloating pictures of Jews in death camps with mocking captions. Sheppard was expelled from the party following his prosecution. He was still a party member however when he helped set up the Redwatch website.
In December, 2004, police arrested Griffin after he was secretly filmed calling Islam "a wicked, vicious faith". In 2005, he was charged with two further charges of incitement to racial hatred, subsequent to secret filming of BNP meetings.
The BNP has throughout its short and bitter history glorified racist attacks. In 1991, the BNP newspaper gloated after several BNP supporters stabbed an African immigrant at London Bridge station. The victim had his “kidney surgically removed”, the paper boasted. In the same year, the BNP leadership whipped up a racist riot in Bermondsey, London, and led an attack on anti-racist protestors against the BNP headquarters in Welling. Thirteen people needed hospital treatment.
In recent times, a member of the BNP, Mark Collett, has been implicated in involvement with the Redwatch website, run by self-identified neo-Nazis linked to Combat eighteen and the National Front, (though Simon Sheppard (see above) was instrumental in setting up the site while still a BNP member.) Redwatch prints the addresses and pictures of left-wing activists and invites its readers to make them "pay for their crimes". Many people featured on the site have been threatened or attacked. One such individual was Liverpool TUC organiser Alec McFadden, who received death threats shortly after his details appeared onsite. At precisely the same time Joe Owens, an offical Merseyside BNP candidate with several convictions for violent offences (see above) began sending him e-mails gloating that he had photographic details of his house, car, and family. The BNP leadership, aware of the damage caused by association of the party with Redwatch, proscribes use of the website by BNP members. Despite this, Collett was seen advocating use of the site in the BBC's The Secret Agent documentary. He remains a BNP member.
In September 2003 the party's annual "Red, White and Blue" social event was marred with violence when recently elected BNP Burnley councillor Luke Smith smashed a bottle in the face of fellow party member Martin Reynolds. Reynolds had to be admitted to casualty and required several stitches. Smith was forced to resign as a councillor.
In August 2005, Ben Boylen, a member of the BNP, was arrested at Dover in Kent for smuggling an Albanian woman and her two children into England. He is thought to have told fellow BNP members that he was arrested for drug smuggling.
BNP member Stuart Kerr was sentenced to twelve years' imprisonment for firebombing an Asian shop in Chichester, Sussex.
Other organisers and candidates for the party with criminal records include Kevin Scott, BNP North-Eastern organiser (assault and threatening behaviour), Warren Bennett, BNP chief steward (football hooliganism), Colin Smith, BNP south-east London organiser (17 convictions for burglary, theft, stealing cars, possession of drugs and assaulting a police officer), and Paul Bennett, BNP council candidate for Barnsley (assaulting a pensioner). All are still currently active in the party.
Any comments Bob Dalek?
A number of prominent members of the BNP have been reported as:
having been convicted of a wide range of offences, including assault, inciting racial hatred, and offences under the Explosives Act (see Tony Lecomber); or having had previous connections with Ulster loyalist paramilitary organisations, extremist or neo-Nazi groups, or with football violence.
The BNP dismisses these instances as past misdemeanours, however, there are present day criminal charges brought against BNP members, including for assault, racism, and other activities.
While they claim any individuals involved with criminality would be immediately expelled from the BNP, Brian Turner, a Burnley local authority BNP councillor found guilty of attacking his wife and a police officer – has recently been told he will keep his job. Turner was arrested on February 5, 2005 at Cuthbert Street in Burnley, after reports of a domestic violence incident at a house in St Cuthbert Street, Burnley. The court was told at a previous hearing how Turner, who has eleven previous convictions, was aggressive towards the police officer who tried to restrain him, and kicked him in the leg. The party has said it is supporting him and his place on Burnley Borough Council, while opposition councillors repeatedly called for his resignation.
The BNP emphasises that over 20% of the working population has some criminal record or another: however the percentage of elected politicians with criminal records belonging to mainstream political parties, is much lower and many of the offences committed by the BNP are substantially more serious than the offences typically committed by the general population of minor criminals, and that the people named are "leading members" of the BNP.
Tony Lecomber, is a convicted bomber and racist attacker, almost killing a man on the London Underground. He was never expelled from the party, and is now the BNP's national development officer.
Jason Douglas took 10% of the poll on the sprawling Hainault estate in the London Borough of Redbridge on a "law and order" platform, despite the revelation during the campaign that he has football hooligan convictions going back fourteen years.
The BNP argues that it does not and cannot completely vet every single member and that it is impossible to know the proportion of members with a criminal conviction in any party.
Joe Owens, a BNP candidate in Merseyside in 2004, was a close associate of Nick Griffin and acted as his personal bodyguard. Owens was convicted of sending razor-blades to Jewish people in the post during the 1980s, and also had a well-established history of participating in non-political gangland violence in Liverpool over the past three decades, resulting in several convictions. More recently he and BNP youth leader Tony Wentworth were convicted of assaulting several demonstrators at an anti-BNP event in 2003. Owens quit the party in 2004 after a dispute with Nick Griffin, though Wentworth remains a member, and the leader of the BNP youth movement.
BNP member Simon Sheppard was sentenced to nine months imprisonment at Hull Crown Court on Wednesday 14 June 2000 for the crime of "Publishing or Distributing racially inflammatory material." Sheppard produced and still produces a website entitled "Heretical Press" which dwells at length on his hatred of both Jews and women. Whilst misogyny is the prevalent theme of his website, it was the Holocaust Denial of the site which led to his prosecution. The page remains in existence, containing gloating pictures of Jews in death camps with mocking captions. Sheppard was expelled from the party following his prosecution. He was still a party member however when he helped set up the Redwatch website.
In December, 2004, police arrested Griffin after he was secretly filmed calling Islam "a wicked, vicious faith". In 2005, he was charged with two further charges of incitement to racial hatred, subsequent to secret filming of BNP meetings.
The BNP has throughout its short and bitter history glorified racist attacks. In 1991, the BNP newspaper gloated after several BNP supporters stabbed an African immigrant at London Bridge station. The victim had his “kidney surgically removed”, the paper boasted. In the same year, the BNP leadership whipped up a racist riot in Bermondsey, London, and led an attack on anti-racist protestors against the BNP headquarters in Welling. Thirteen people needed hospital treatment.
In recent times, a member of the BNP, Mark Collett, has been implicated in involvement with the Redwatch website, run by self-identified neo-Nazis linked to Combat eighteen and the National Front, (though Simon Sheppard (see above) was instrumental in setting up the site while still a BNP member.) Redwatch prints the addresses and pictures of left-wing activists and invites its readers to make them "pay for their crimes". Many people featured on the site have been threatened or attacked. One such individual was Liverpool TUC organiser Alec McFadden, who received death threats shortly after his details appeared onsite. At precisely the same time Joe Owens, an offical Merseyside BNP candidate with several convictions for violent offences (see above) began sending him e-mails gloating that he had photographic details of his house, car, and family. The BNP leadership, aware of the damage caused by association of the party with Redwatch, proscribes use of the website by BNP members. Despite this, Collett was seen advocating use of the site in the BBC's The Secret Agent documentary. He remains a BNP member.
In September 2003 the party's annual "Red, White and Blue" social event was marred with violence when recently elected BNP Burnley councillor Luke Smith smashed a bottle in the face of fellow party member Martin Reynolds. Reynolds had to be admitted to casualty and required several stitches. Smith was forced to resign as a councillor.
In August 2005, Ben Boylen, a member of the BNP, was arrested at Dover in Kent for smuggling an Albanian woman and her two children into England. He is thought to have told fellow BNP members that he was arrested for drug smuggling.
BNP member Stuart Kerr was sentenced to twelve years' imprisonment for firebombing an Asian shop in Chichester, Sussex.
Other organisers and candidates for the party with criminal records include Kevin Scott, BNP North-Eastern organiser (assault and threatening behaviour), Warren Bennett, BNP chief steward (football hooliganism), Colin Smith, BNP south-east London organiser (17 convictions for burglary, theft, stealing cars, possession of drugs and assaulting a police officer), and Paul Bennett, BNP council candidate for Barnsley (assaulting a pensioner). All are still currently active in the party.
Any comments Bob Dalek?
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