Labour councillor Ricky Jones not guilty after calling for far-right protesters’ throats to be cut

A Labour councillor who called for far-right protesters’ throats to be cut has been cleared in court.

Ricky Jones, 58, was accused of encouraging violent disorder after footage emerged showing him speaking to a crowd at a protest in east London last year in the wake of the Southport murders and rioting.

Jones described the protesters as ‘disgusting Nazi fascists’ at the counter-protest held in Walthamstow on August 7 last year.

He said on the video, describing the far-right protesters who had marched outside the Walthamstow Forest Immigration Bureau: ‘They are disgusting Nazi fascists. We need to cut all their throats and get rid of them all.’

He used his finger to cut across his throat as he addressed the crowd.

The now-suspended councillor was at trial at Snaresbrook Crown Court today.

After deliberating for just half an hour, the jurors found him not guilty.

Jones, a borough councillor in Dartford, Kent, was suspended from the Labour Party the next day.

He argued that his comments referred to people who had reportedly glued National Front stickers on a train with razor blades hidden behind them.

The court was shown a video where he also told the crowds at the protest: ‘You’ve got women and children using these trains during the summer holidays.

‘They don’t give a shit about who they hurt.’

Prosecutor Ben Holt had previously told the court that Jones used ‘inflammatory, rabble-rousing language in the throng of a crowd described as a tinderbox.’

He said the speech was amplified through a microphone and speakers in a place where ‘violence could readily have been anticipated.’

However, Jones said during his evidence that the mood in the crowd at the time of his speech was ‘happy and joyful.’

The dad-of-four added: ‘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.’

At the time of the protest, Jones worked as an official for the Transport Salaried Staff’s Association (TSSA) union.

A Labour Party spokesperson said at the time of his suspension: ‘This behaviour is completely unacceptable and it will not be tolerated.

‘The councillor has been suspended from the party.’

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