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05/11/2009
Case Fails Over Attack On BNP
It has emerged today that a court has cleared a man of racially abusing British National Party (BNP) Leader, Nick Griffin - a result the BNP leader described as "unfortunate".
Asian Tauriq Khalid, 23, denied shouting 'white b*******' at a group of far-right demonstrators in his home town of Burnley, Lancashire, in November 2008.
This week, a jury of five women and seven men cleared Khalid of one count of using racially abusive threatening behaviour after they deliberated for 45 minutes at the end of a three-day trial at Preston Crown Court.
The court was told by Khalid that he was shouting abuse as he drove past a gathering of far-right BNP demonstrators outside Burnley police station.
He told the jury he stopped his silver Vauxhall Astra and shouted "Nick Griffin, you f****** w*****" and made a V-sign with his fingers.
He also admitted he shouted several times "get the f*** out of Burnley, you're not welcome here".
He told the jury: "I shouldn't have done what I done really, it was just a spur of the moment thing."
Mr Griffin, giving evidence on the first day of the trial, claimed he was called a "white b******" by a young Asian man in a silver Astra.
He said the man "leaned out of the car and pointed at me and made a gun and gang gesture".
Mr Griffin also claimed the defendant threatened him by shouting "I'm going to...".
He said that although he did not hear the words, he interpreted them as a threat to kill or shoot him, prompting him to leave the demonstration fearing for his safety.
Khalid was arrested after one of the protesters took a note of his car's registration number and complained to police.
Mr Griffin said the verdict was "unfortunate" but that he accepted the jury's decision.
"I know it's the wrong decision - juries sometimes get it wrong - but I'm not going to lose any sleep over it."
(BMcC/KMcA)
Asian Tauriq Khalid, 23, denied shouting 'white b*******' at a group of far-right demonstrators in his home town of Burnley, Lancashire, in November 2008.
This week, a jury of five women and seven men cleared Khalid of one count of using racially abusive threatening behaviour after they deliberated for 45 minutes at the end of a three-day trial at Preston Crown Court.
The court was told by Khalid that he was shouting abuse as he drove past a gathering of far-right BNP demonstrators outside Burnley police station.
He told the jury he stopped his silver Vauxhall Astra and shouted "Nick Griffin, you f****** w*****" and made a V-sign with his fingers.
He also admitted he shouted several times "get the f*** out of Burnley, you're not welcome here".
He told the jury: "I shouldn't have done what I done really, it was just a spur of the moment thing."
Mr Griffin, giving evidence on the first day of the trial, claimed he was called a "white b******" by a young Asian man in a silver Astra.
He said the man "leaned out of the car and pointed at me and made a gun and gang gesture".
Mr Griffin also claimed the defendant threatened him by shouting "I'm going to...".
He said that although he did not hear the words, he interpreted them as a threat to kill or shoot him, prompting him to leave the demonstration fearing for his safety.
Khalid was arrested after one of the protesters took a note of his car's registration number and complained to police.
Mr Griffin said the verdict was "unfortunate" but that he accepted the jury's decision.
"I know it's the wrong decision - juries sometimes get it wrong - but I'm not going to lose any sleep over it."
(BMcC/KMcA)
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