A LABOUR councillor has been cleared after he branded far-right protesters “Nazi fascists” and told a “tinderbox” crowd “we need to cut their throats”.
Ricky Jones was filmed at the anti-racism demonstration in Walthamstow, East London , making a slashing gesture across his neck.
The 57-year-old had attended the protest in August last year following the murders of Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, Bebe King, six, and Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, in Southport.
He was told by the Labour Party to stay away from the march, which had been organised in response to a planned far-right demonstration, but turned up anyway, it was said.
Snaresbrook Crown Court heard Jones was cheered by the “tinderbox” crowd as he shouted into a microphone: “We need to cut their throats and get rid of them”.
The Labour Councillor for Dartford, Kent , who has since been suspended, also branded the protesters “disgusting Nazi fascists” in his “rabble-rousing speech”.
Jones has now been found not guilty of one count of encouraging violent disorder.
Prosecutor Ben Holt said: “Last summer, three young girls were killed at a dance-themed party in Southport.
“There was some hysteria… Some of that grief manifested itself in anger, and regrettably, violence.”
The horror brought out counter-protests, one of which Jones decided to go to, the prosecutor explained.
Mr Holt continued: “He attended in the face of considered advice not to do so.
“During that event, he made a speech, amplified through a public address system, to the crowd.
“He called the other side disgusting Nazi fascists. He said that their throats needed to be slit.
“He drew his finger along his throat as he said that.
“This, in a setting where, we suggest, violence could readily have been anticipated.
“We ask rhetorically, what did Mr Jones think was going to happen?”
Jones later told police his speech was a response to seeing stickers planted on trains by far-right group National Front.
He claimed they contained concealed razor blades and included the words: “National Front Rights for Whites”.
The councillor also apologised for the comments but said they were not meant to be “taken literally”.
Following the video of his speech being shared, Jones received a message telling him he was “on BBC News“.
Jones was said to have appeared “satisfied” and told the contact: “I served”.
He also co-authored a declaration on behalf of Labour, that read: “There is no excuse for what we’ve seen. No possible justification.
“This is mindless criminal thuggery, fuelled and perpetrated by the far right spreading their divisive, destructive ideas on the streets and on social media.”
The court heard Labour had sent out an “instructive” email referring to the Southport rallies taking place across the UK at the time.
It told its councillors to “follow the clear advice” issued by police, which urged anyone “not to take part in, attend, or encourage others to attend any sort of demonstration or counter demonstration”.
But Jones alegedly chose to “ignore” the advice, with the video showing him making a “conscious” decision to take to the stage and ask an aide to film his speech.
In his evidence, Jones described the mood in the crowd at the time as “happy and joyful”.
The father-of-four and grandfather also told the court he felt “horrified” after realising what he had said.
“When I had time to view the footage after the demonstration, I was shocked at what I had actually said,” he told jurors.
