The leader and deputy leader of far-right group Britain First have been jailed after launching a ‘political campaign’ in which Muslims were branded paedophiles and rapists.
Paul Golding, 36, and Jayda Fransen, 32, both of Penge, south-east London, were found guilty at Folkestone Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday of religiously-aggravated harassment.
They were arrested on May 10 last year in an investigation into the distribution of leaflets and online videos during an on-going trial at Canterbury Crown Court.
Three Muslim men and a teenager were later jailed for raping a 16-year-old girl in a flat above the 555 Pizza takeaway in Ramsgate, Kent.
Judge Justin Barron convicted Fransen of three charges and Golding of one charge.
Sentencing Fransen to 36 weeks and Golding for 18 weeks in jail, he said the crimes were ‘deliberately planned against targeted victims’.
He said: ‘I have no doubt it was their joint intention to use the facts of the case (in Canterbury) for their own political ends.
‘It was a campaign to draw attention to the race, religion and immigrant background of the defendants.’
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