Man who hurled racist abuse at Jewish family jailed

Robert Taylor incited racial hatred on social media but also targeted members of the public, the court hears

A man who harassed a Jewish family at a car boot sale as part of a catalogue of public order and terrorism offences has been jailed for four years.

Robert Taylor, 42, posted hundreds of times on social media inciting racial hatred but also carried his extreme right-wing views into the community by targeting people and handing out leaflets, Manchester Crown Court heard.

Taylor, of Farnworth near Bolton, approached a man from behind at the car boot in Astley and repeated antisemitic slurs and Nazi slogans.

The victim, who was with his wife and two children, said he found the July 2021 incident "very disturbing" and he was even questioning whether to remain in the UK.

Prosecutor Martin Hackett said the man was “conscious at shielding his wife and children because he was unsure as to what the defendant’s motives were and what he was planning to do”.

The victim said he “felt sick” at the hateful views expressed in public.

The prosecutor said it had had a "permanent impact" on his life and he would no longer wear his skull cap in public.

'Hateful sentiments'

Days earlier Taylor had targeted another car boot sale event at the same Wigan site as he filmed himself handing out racist and antisemitic fliers, telling one visitor: “There you go sir, learn about who your enemies are.”

Taylor was arrested at his home in Ullswater Drive in February 2023 on suspicion of public order offences relating to a protest in Bolton town centre, the court heard.

His mobile phone was later examined and revealed he had posted racist, homophobic and antisemitic content from his social media profile on the Telegram platform.

Taylor pleaded guilty at earlier hearings to various offences between March 2021 and February 2023 including inciting racial hatred, intentional harassment, distributing a terrorist publication and possessing a document likely to be useful to a terrorist.

Richard Simons, defending, said Taylor was a “highly intelligent man” whose offending was brought about by “intellectual curiosity that led him down a rabbit hole of research”.

Sentencing Taylor, Judge Alan Conrad KC told him: “The nature of your outpourings created a high risk of racial hatred being caused and the quantity and frequency made it more increasingly likely that someone would act upon the hateful sentiments that you broadcast."