17/02/2006

BNP pair to face retrial

The leader of the British National Party (BNP) and a fellow activist will face a retrial over race hate charges in May, a judge has announced.

BNP leader Nick Griffin, 46, along with party activist Mark Collett, 24, will go to trial on May 15, a judge at Leeds Crown Court announced today.

The charges relate to speeches made by the pair in West Yorkshire in 2003. The speeches were recorded by an undercover reporter from the BBC and used in a documentary, which was broadcast in 2004.

Mr Griffin, from Powys, Mid Wales, faces two charges of using words or behaviour likely to stir up racial hatred, in relation to one speech, while Mr Collett, from Rothley, Leicestershire, faces four similar charges in relation to two speeches he made.

Earlier this month, both men walked free from a Leeds court after being cleared on a number of similar charges. However, the jury failed to reach verdicts on the other charges.

Neither Mr Griffin nor Mr Collett were in court on Friday for the hearing.

(KMcA)

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