Right wing party leader guilty of race hate speech in South Oxhey (From Watford Observer)
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Right wing party leader guilty of race hate speech in South Oxhey
4:00pm Friday 6th March 2009 in News
The leader of the British First Party who set up a stall with the Union flag and launched a tirade of offensive racist abuse has been convicted of a religiously aggravated public order offence.
Police were called to the shopping precinct in St Andrews Road, South Oxhey, when leader of the far right party Kevin Quinn, 44, began using offensive language during a ‘demonstration’ about the arrest in Sudan of schoolteacher Gillian Gibbons.
The Liverpool teacher came to media attention when she was said to have insulted Islam’s prophet after she allowed pupils to name a teddy bear Muhammad.
During the trial at St Albans Crown Court witnesses how they were offended by the racist and foul language used by Quinn with the aid of a megaphone on December 1, 2007.
The first of the prosecution witnesses, Valerie Gay, was on the way to work in Woolworths when she saw the demonstration with a man on a megaphone and people handing out leaflets.
Asked by Isabel Delamere, for the prosecution, what she noticed first, Mrs Gay said: “It was the bad language being used to be honest. He was going on about a young lass that went to Sudan and he was using F and B words saying it was unfair she should be executed for naming a Teddy Bear Mohamed.”
She added: “He was saying it was unfair she went out there to teach those retards and for that she was being executed.”
Mrs Gay said Quinn “definitely” used the word retard as it hit hard because she has a family member that is disabled.
“He said we should execute the f****** Bs in this country and send them back home and before much longer it won’t be our country.
“I was shocked. I couldn’t understand why people have to be so racist. I believe in letting people lead their own lives,” she said.
During cross examination Mark Kimsey, for the defence, disputed bad language or the word retard had been used.
He also pointed out the demonstration had been authorised by the police and that the party was a legal political organisation that supported the rights of indigenous British people.
Fay Wheeler had been out shopping and was about to go home when she saw the men dressed in black carrying a “large Union Jack flag” walking down the precinct.
Mrs Wheeler told the jury of six men and six women, how she stood and listened to Quinn before telephoning police.
Mrs Wheeler said Quinn spoke about people in Sudan burning the Union Jack and about the teacher being found guilty of naming a Teddy Bear Mohamed after going out to teach those “retards”.
Quinn also made reference to Lord Levy being Jewish in relation to the cash for honours allegations at the time, said Mrs Wheeler.
“The gist of it was it was against other people regarding their culture and their colour. I found it offensive and that’s why I called the police on my mobile.”
She added: “South Oxhey over the years has had difficulty with different cultures and you do not need someone standing in the middle of a shopping precinct shouting that. I was worried young people coming down may be influenced by it.”
Mr Kimsey in cross examination asked if Mrs Wheeler had mistaken the word retards for regards and put it that Quinn had said: “Why should she [the teacher] be punished with regards to the naming of the bear?”.
Mrs Wheeler, who works with disabled children, said: “No, because why would he say: ‘She has gone out there to teach those regards’ - that does not sound quite right to me.”
The owner of an electrical store in the precinct, Ken Shah, who fled Uganda 30 years ago, heard a man on a “microphone” shouting that Tony Blair should be called Tony Mohamed, the court heard.
Mr Shah said: “They were shouting about Tony Blair should be Tony Mohamed because of all the immigrants coming in, and what is wrong with this country and about immigration and schools full of immigrant children.”
He added: “I have been living 30 years in this country peacefully. We are not supposed to hate each other in this country. This is a peaceful country and with that type of demonstration people will start turning against each other and we do not want that.”
Usman Khawaja, a muslim, was working as assistant manager at a nearby shop when he caught parts of what was being said by Quinn, the court heard.
He also heard the Mohamed and the Teddy Bear issue and that Muslims are terrorists and should be “thrown out of the country”.
Mr Khawaja said there was swearing, but conceded that he did not think Quinn meant all Muslims should be removed from the UK only those that had committed acts of terrorism.
Mr Kimsey said the main thrust of the party is that it is “putting British people first” and that Quinn had done nothing illegal in voicing his opinions.
The jury of six men and six women took five-and-a-half hours to find Quinn guilty.
Judge Warner adjourned sentence for reports on Friday, April 3.
Comments(28)
crazyfrog
says...
6:45pm Fri 6 Mar 09
SouwfLondonHornet
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5:47am Sat 7 Mar 09
gusgreen
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9:12am Sat 7 Mar 09
crazyfrog wrote:Agreed.
slightly different contrast to hamza the hook, who had the police close the roads off for him so he could spill his hate.
What you have to remember under this ZaNu Labour government is What Muslims want Muslims get.
Freedom of speech is ok if your Muslim but not if your English!
Roy Stockdill
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10:44am Sat 7 Mar 09
Some, more enlightened Labour ministers are beginning to see this now, the otherwise ridiculous, posturing Hazel Blears being especially prominent among them, though I suspect this is more a reaction to the terror of losing their seats at the next election than anything else.
The backlash is most notable amongst the white working classes on the council estates, who are feeling increasingly disenfranchised and that their less articulate voice is being drowned out by the opinions of the metropolitan, politically correct chattering classes.
It is no surprise that this man chose to make his pitch at South Oxhey rather than on the Cassiobury Park estate or some other middle class area where he is unlikely to have got much of a hearing. Fascism and hatred of foreigners has always bred faster amongst the less articulate classes - the rise of Adolf Hitler in the 1930s showed this.
As for freedom of speech, the appropriate quotation others appear to be trying to think of was attributed to the French writer Voltaire: "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." Politicians of all parties should have it tattooed on their heart!
Wilkinson
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8:17pm Sat 7 Mar 09
I agree with what your getting at Roy, but to be honest its not just the white working classes on council estates that are getting fed up with life in this country. As a young professional, i have all too often suffered the consequences of "positive discrimination" and "equal opportunities" when trying to operate in the job market. There are several government funded agencies set up to protect "ethnic minorities" particularly in employment, which is extremely unfair on the indigenous workforce. We all know companies operate a quota system, wanting 10% of everything in their organisation.
I have a friend who attempted to apply for the police a few years ago, only to be told that they were "only recruiting from ethnic minorities". Is this not racism?
I think that the feelings of injustice are going to spread from the estates to all indigenous folk, as we live in the most testing of times.
IanFBram
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9:06pm Sat 7 Mar 09
Roy Stockdill
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10:31am Sun 8 Mar 09
There should be only ONE factor when it comes to employment, i.e. the job should go to the best qualified candidate whatever their colour, sex, race or sexuality. That is the only fair way and I am frankly amazed that there are unbelievably stupid people, riddled with political correctness, who cannot see it.
I fear, like others here, that Enoch Powell's infamous "rivers of blood" speech may one day become fact because the culture and institutions Britain has enjoyed for centuries is in severe danger of being destroyed by the influx of people who feel they owe us nothing or, even worse, actively despise our way of life. This country has a long and proud record of assimilating immigrants, the vast majority of whom become fully integrated Britons within a few generations. However, we are now seeing a new invasion of immigrants who have no intention or desire to integrate but who simply want to cynically take this country for an enormous ride.
It seems a shame to me that to express such views is calculated to bring the poison of the politically correct brigade onto one's head. It is also a terrible shame that the union jack has been hijacked by these far-Right parties. The sooner it is reclaimed by the mainstream parties and the sooner an honest and forthright public debate is held on the whole immigration issue, the better it will be for all.
Wilkinson
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1:26pm Sun 8 Mar 09
I agree with all of the above Enoch Powell was a visionary and unfortunately a lot of what he said is likely to come true in the coming years.
earth_chylde
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3:18pm Sun 8 Mar 09
Speedydog
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6:24pm Sun 8 Mar 09
I think anybody related to the Normans (1066 and all that) should be repatriated to France. Keep England for the Anglo Saxons I say. (Your OK if your Welsh or Scottish you have always been on this island) I can trace my ancestors way back to the Wolves.
Speedydog
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6:29pm Sun 8 Mar 09
I just googled Stockdill, he's an Anglo. Just shows you what all that in breeding gets you. But I bet there are a few 'others' mixed in. So maybe he should go too!!!
John Rambo
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8:06pm Sun 8 Mar 09
Somethings are better left unspoken, never mentioned, and some things never even tought about.
Roy Stockdill
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9:16pm Sun 8 Mar 09
Speedydog wrote:Actually, I can trace some lines of my family tree back to before the English Civil War. My ancestry is principally from Yorkshire and therefore more Viking and Scandinavian than Anglo-Saxon. However, we are talking about the 8th and 9th centuries when the Vikings invaded Yorkshire. Therefore, my ancestors have been here for well over 1,000 years.
Blimey, I just googled Stockdill, he's an Anglo. Just shows you what all that in breeding gets you. But I bet there are a few 'others' mixed in. So maybe he should go too!!!
I have traced most of my 32 great-great-great-gr
andparents and the only one I can find of remotely "foreign" origins is a great-great-grandmot
her who was born in Edinburgh about 1822! She wound up in the Yorkshire Dales where she married my great-great-grandfat
her. Does that count as "foreign blood"? I suspect not, as she was Scottish.
Nor were, I should point out, the Celts the original inhabitants of Britain, either. They, too, came over from Europe many centuries ago. I know, you see, because I am a historian, unlike the vast majority who post here.
BertinaBasset
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10:46pm Sun 8 Mar 09
Paradise Watford
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8:42am Mon 9 Mar 09
Not condoning what he was saying, after all i'm only half English myself, but it does seem that even amongst people that have been in this country a relatively short time (say third generation) there is ill feelings about the level of immigration at this time and the feeling that in the past ten years many people have come to this country just to bleed it for all they can get without making any contribution to it in return.
The thing that I do find irritating is that there must be several hundred people in West Watford that have lived in this country for many many many years who still do not speak English.
I know that sounds like i'm targeting a specific group, i'm not just the fact that a significant amount of people have come to this country and appear to have no interest in integrating into it. This isn't just something specific to West Watford either, most towns of a certain size will have a community like this.
I also don't understand why in some cases if someone is given the right to live and work in this country why that means their parents and grandparents (who are often retired) also have the right to come across and live here. Why?
Roy Stockdill
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11:04am Mon 9 Mar 09
Why be coy about it? We know full well that you are referring to Muslim women and, yes, you speak the truth. And why do they not speak English? Because their macho Muslim menfolk won't permit them to because they are terrified that if they allow their wives to learn English and to become literate the woman will begin to realise how oppressed they are and start to demand equal rights.
I am a little surprised you should say this, Paradise, because in another thread you took me to task for saying that Muslim women are third-class citizens! You pointed out that a number of Muslim women had become leaders of their country and in that you are correct. However, I was talking about the average, ordinary Muslim woman and you must surely agree that in most cases I am right. Muslim women ARE regarded as inferior by many ignorant, uneducated and backward Muslim men. In strict Muslim countries women are not allowed to be educated, drive a car or be able to be seen in public unless covered from head to toe in those hideous black binliner things and even then only with a man who is their husband or a close relative. Such behaviour, is by all civilised standards, medieval and barbaric.
I wonder why we have never seen any Muslim male posting here and attempting to explain their point of view? Possibly because they privately know and admit that they are backward and treat women badly.
Paradise Watford
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12:06pm Mon 9 Mar 09
To me the irritant is that this shows that they want to come to this country to get its benefits but they have no interest in it other than that, they don’t want to contribute in any way to it.
Roy, seeing as I was talking about men and women of different nationalities and backgrounds I don’t see how I am contradicting myself? Yes, some Muslim men and countries do believe women are inferior but so do many western men who would love to treat their women the same way…
Paradise Watford
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12:34pm Mon 9 Mar 09
Anyway whilst this may come across as hypocritical to some I am going to say that whilst I don’t agree with all their theories, terminology, methods or ideas that I can see the appeal of a group like the BNP. A group whose purpose, on the surface, is to protect the position of the indigenous population of this country, a group who wants the indigenous population to be treated more fairly.
I would never vote for them but unfortunately unless the government get a real grip on the issue, from how many immigrants arrive to what benefits they are entitled to, to the whole quota thing when applying for jobs, the majority population will continue to feel sidelines in its own country – something that will only get worse as the economic climate gets worse – and I can see unfortunately parties like the BNP getting more popular and more race riots breaking out in the future.
Roy Stockdill
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2:15pm Mon 9 Mar 09
And then, of course, we had Sir Oswald Moseley who also started out as a Tory and eventually crossed the floor of the House as an Independent before founding the British Union of Fascists. His son Max has done rather well for himself, hasn't he - playing with Formula 1 racing cars and prostitutes!
Seriously, though, I think we seem to agree that it is about time that the mainstream parties got their act together, recognised the dangers posed by the BNP and started the debate about immigration, which is what so many people (and not all of them extremists by any means) seem to want.
Paradise Watford
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3:32pm Mon 9 Mar 09
Pruss
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6:52pm Mon 9 Mar 09
Playa wrote:In this country the concept of Free Speech should also apply to the indigenous community. Because Quinn and others do not agree with New Labours enforced multiculturalism, it does not make him, me or millions of other indigenous Britons an 'extremist' or a 'nut'. The indigenous population is tired of being ethnically cleansed and 'swamped' and used as tax-slaves to support the world's invading welfare seekers.
About time these extremist nuts are put behind bars.
Roy Stockdill
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10:06pm Mon 9 Mar 09
Paradise Watford wrote:Sorry, Paradise, but that is a somewhat naive aspiration.
I think what we need is a government that actually governs and does what is best for its bosses, the voter, instead of what is best for its own party and for Europe
There has never yet, in my experience, been a government which, once elected, has carried out the wishes of those who elected it. Once every four or five years, they beg, cajole, lie and obfuscate in a desperate attempt to be elected. Then, once elected, they con the electors yet again and pass into law policies that nobody actually voted for. It is called democracy!
Paradise Watford
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9:14am Tue 10 Mar 09
I agree with Pruss, the indegenous population does have a right to voice an opinion on multiculturism without the fear of being called extremist (how can you be extreme when the majority feel/think the same thing?) or nuts.
However I do think you need to be careful of how those thoughts come out, unfortunately the way Mr Quinn did it causes more harm than good.
Roy Stockdill
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9:41am Tue 10 Mar 09
However, no-one should be in any doubt that he was expressing views that are held by millions of people but who are afraid of stating them publicly in case they suffer a similar fate. As I said earlier, they cannot compete with the political correctness of the more articulate, metropolitan chattering classes in Hampstead, Chelsea and Islington - people such as Polly Toynbee of the Guardian, for instance, the High Priestess of political correctness who is virtually worshipped by the New Labour elite.
As someone pointed out right at the start of this debate, the contrast with the treatment of Mr Quinn - and let's be clear that he was in fact found guilty by a jury under out long-established legal system - is in stark contrast to that accorded certain Muslim preachers of hate who are allowed to spout their poison against Britain, the country that took them in and permits them to live in some luxury on benefits paid for out of our taxes. The police are now so riddled with political correctness as a result of years of social engineering that they are terrified to take on the Muslim extremists for fear of giving offence when we should, in fact, be booting them out of the country. Jacqui Smith and her useless, clueless Home Office are also right up front when it comes to opportioning blame.
I rather suspect this is what Mr Quinn was trying to say but not very articulately or effectively, hence he wound up in court. All the more reason why we need an informed, open and articulate debate on the immigration issue without accusations of racism and anti-religious bigotry being chucked around.
Roy Stockdill
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9:45am Tue 10 Mar 09
See, I am always willing to own up to a mistake on the rare occasions that I make one!
Paradise Watford
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1:14pm Tue 10 Mar 09
Articulate or not I think Mr Quinn knew exactly what he was doing and saying, he just had an error in judgement as he was wrong to think he could get away with it.
And yes, the rules should be the same for all
michelle4171
says...
7:39pm Thu 12 Mar 09
Roy Stockdill wrote:Roy you clearly do not live in South Oxhey! You make it sound like the area is a hole with only stupid people who have no career or prospects. Alot of the people that live in South Oxhey would be considered "middle class"
I have never heard of this man or of his party, and I make no comment as to his alleged views and remarks, the case or its outcome, but I find it hardly surprising that such views are spreading and gaining support, especially amongst the less literate in poorer areas. How many local council seats does the BNP now hold, virtually all in deprived inner city places? It is an understandable backlash against the feeling that, indeed, the views of indigenous British people are being disregarded in favour of the assertion of the rights of immigrants and ethnic minorities over those whose families have been here for centuries. Some, more enlightened Labour ministers are beginning to see this now, the otherwise ridiculous, posturing Hazel Blears being especially prominent among them, though I suspect this is more a reaction to the terror of losing their seats at the next election than anything else. The backlash is most notable amongst the white working classes on the council estates, who are feeling increasingly disenfranchised and that their less articulate voice is being drowned out by the opinions of the metropolitan, politically correct chattering classes. It is no surprise that this man chose to make his pitch at South Oxhey rather than on the Cassiobury Park estate or some other middle class area where he is unlikely to have got much of a hearing. Fascism and hatred of foreigners has always bred faster amongst the less articulate classes - the rise of Adolf Hitler in the 1930s showed this. As for freedom of speech, the appropriate quotation others appear to be trying to think of was attributed to the French writer Voltaire: "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." Politicians of all parties should have it tattooed on their heart!
Because of people like you assuming this area is bad and making your harsh comments it will never loose its stigma!
Playa says...
5:15pm Fri 6 Mar 09