The co-leaders of street-marching group Britain First have been found guilty of racially aggravated harassment at a British court in a case originating over the trial of four Afghan males who gang-raped a lost 16-year-old girl above a takeaway shop in Ramsgate, Kent, in 2016.
The court heard how Britain First leader Jayda Fransen had led a “campaign” of harassment against the four rapists and others “not directly involved in the rape case” during their trial in May 2017, reports Kent Live.
Fransen and her former partner Paul Golding both denied all charges against them but were found guilty of three and one counts of religiously aggravated harassment respectively. Sentencing will follow.
Jayda Fransen came to global media attention in November 2017 after a number of tweets she made claiming to highlight violence and abuses by Muslims were re-tweeted by U.S. President Donald Trump.
In one of the videos, a laughing man throws a statue of the Virgin Mary to the floor, causing it to smash into pieces. In another, a man is thrown off the roof of a building. The caption reads: “Islamist mob pushes teenage boy off roof and beats him to death!”
Fransen responded positively to the attention, writing “God bless you Trump! God bless America!” and appending the message with an abbreviation reported to mean ‘Onward, Christian Soldiers.”
Breitbart London reported in September 2017 as Fransen and Golding were originally charged with the crimes, when Kent Police said their investigation into the pair related to the distribution of leaflets in Thanet and Canterbury, and videos posted online during the gang rape trial at Canterbury Crown Court.
The four men involved in the rape trial, Tamin Rahmani, 37, of Ramsgate, Shershah Muslimyar, 20, of Canterbury, Rafiullah Hamidy, 24, of no fixed abode, and Hamid Mohamadi, 18, from Wye were found guilty of three counts of rape in May 2017. The court heard how in September 2016, the victim, who had just turned 16, went into the takeaway to ask for help.
Instead of rendering assistance, the employees of 555 Pizza took her upstairs where she was thrown onto a “grubby mattress”, “passed around like an entertainment device”, and “penetrated in every single orifice” by the “laughing” men during her ordeal, the court heard. Afghan asylum seeker Hamidy claimed the group sex with the girl was consensual before fleeing the country.
The group were jailed for a total of 49 years.