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BNP pair's race hate trial begins BNP leader 'said Islam is wicked'
(about 1 hour later)
British National Party leader Nick Griffin was greeted by a handful of supporters as he arrived at court for his retrial on race hate charges. British National Party leader Nick Griffin told a crowd that Islam was a "wicked, vicious faith" a court heard.
Mr Griffin, 47, from mid-Wales, is charged with using words or behaviour intended to stir up racial hatred. Mr Griffin, 47, from mid-Wales, is charged with using words or behaviour intended to stir up racial hatred in Keighley, West Yorkshire, in 2004.
BNP activist Mark Collett, 25, of Leicestershire, also faces four similar charges at Leeds Crown Court.BNP activist Mark Collett, 25, of Leicestershire, also faces four similar charges at Leeds Crown Court.
Outside the court building on Friday, demonstrators waved flags and placards as the pair arrived. The charges arose out of speeches filmed by BBC journalist Jason Gwynne for a documentary on the party.
Mr Griffin and Mr Collett were charged in April 2005 after the BBC screened a secretly-filmed documentary "The Secret Agent" in 2004. The jury heard Mr Griffin, of Llanerfyl, Powys, urged the gathering to vote BNP to ensure "the British people really realise the evil of what these people have done to our country".
'Without prejudice' 'Cranky lunatics'
Mr Griffin, of Llanerfyl, Powys, was filmed making a speech in Keighley, West Yorkshire. Reading excerpts from the speeches, prosecutor Rodney Jameson QC opened the case against the men by telling the court Mr Griffin said white society had turned into a multiracial "hell".
The charges faced by Mr Collett, of Swithland Lane, Rothley, relate to two speeches he made in the town. The jury was shown the speeches in which, when referring to Islam, Mr Griffin said: "This wicked, vicious faith has expanded from a handful of cranky lunatics about 1,300 years ago.
The prosecution will open its case against the pair when the trial starts later on Friday. "And if you read that book (the Koran), you'll find that that's what they want."
Earlier this week the Recorder of Leeds, Judge Norman Jones QC, asked the jury of seven women and five men to approach the retrial "without prejudice and without bias". The court heard Mr Collet, of Swithland Lane, Rothley, addressed the gathering at the Reservoir Tavern in Keighley on the same evening.
In his speech Mr Collett accused Asian people of being racist, hating white people, and being responsible for rapes and muggings on white girls and pensioners.
"Let's show these ethnics the door in 2004." he said.
In a second speech at the Crossroads public house in Keighley, Mr Collett said gangs of Asian youths wanted "to wipe out white people" and referred to asylum seekers as "cockroaches".
Mr Jameson said that instead of contributing to a debate on multiculturalism, Collett's speeches were "little more than crude racist rants".
Both men deny the charges against them.
The trial was adjourned until Monday.