An elected Labour politician who called for those who rioted in the wake of last year’s Southport stabbings to have their throats cut has been cleared of encouraging violent disorder.
Suspended Labour councillor Ricky Jones, 58, has been found not guilty at Snaresbrook Crown Court of encouraging violent disorder after he called for far-right protesters’ throats to be cut at an anti-racism rally in the wake of rioting following the Southport murders.
In the wake of rioting after the Southport murders last summer, Ricky Jones, 58, described far-right activists as “disgusting Nazi fascists”, his trial at Snaresbrook Crown Court heard.
Jones previously told the trial his comment did not refer to far-right protesters involved in the riots at the time, but to those who had reportedly left National Front stickers on a train with razor blades hidden behind them.
A video showing Jones addressing the crowd in Walthamstow, east London, on August 7 last year, went viral on social media after the protest.
Wearing a black polo top and surrounded by cheering supporters, the councillor said: “You’ve got women and children using these trains during the summer holidays.”
“They don’t give a shit about who they hurt.”
“They are disgusting Nazi fascists. We need to cut all their throats and get rid of them all.”
He also drew his finger across his throat as he spoke to the crowd.
The prosecution alleges that Jones, who at the time worked as an official for the Transport Salaried Staff’s Association (TSSA) union, used “inflammatory, rabble-rousing language” in front of a crowd they described as a “tinderbox”.
Superintendent Jack May-Robinson previously told the court: “Any spark could have led to an incident or disorder occurring.”
But during his evidence, Jones instead described the mood in the crowd at the time as “happy and joyful”, adding: “There clearly wasn’t any upset or anger from any people in that scene, because they clearly knew it was about what happened on the train.”
The father-of-four and grandfather 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.
The jury also heard a medical report by experts from the prosecution and defence agreed that Jones “suffers from a number of neurodivergent challenges” including “impaired verbal comprehension potentially leading to misunderstanding the impact of his words” and “slower cognitive processing meaning he may not have evaluated the situation in real time”.
The demonstration on August 7 had been organised in response to plans for a far-right march outside Waltham Forest Immigration Bureau, jurors at Snaresbrook Crown Court were told.
It followed the nationwide violent disorder that occurred last summer after the Southport murders.
