Councillor cleared of encouraging violent behaviour

The jury took less than an hour to find Ricky Jones not guilty

A Labour councillor who called for far-right protesters' throats to be cut at an anti-racism rally has been found not guilty of encouraging violent disorder.

Ricky Jones, 58, has been on trial at Snaresbrook Crown Court after he called demonstrators "disgusting Nazi fascists" and said "we need to get rid of them all" while addressing a crowd in Walthamstow on 7 August last year.

Mr Jones told police his remarks, captured on video, were "ill-advised" and not intended to incite or encourage violence.

The Dartford councillor, who has since been suspended by the Labour Party, had denied the charge.

A video showing Mr Jones addressing crowds in Walthamstow last year went viral on social media after the protest, which had been organised in response to plans for a far-right march outside Waltham Forest Immigration Bureau.

He also drew his finger across his throat as he spoke to the crowd.

Mr Jones was arrested the day after making the comments and told the court he felt it was his "duty" to attend counter-protests.

Mr Jones leaving court after an earlier hearing in the trial

Jurors deliberated for just over half an hour before finding him not guilty on Friday.

At the time of the incident, Mr Jones was employed as a full-time official for the Transport Salaried Staffs' Association (TSSA) union.

He has been a borough councillor since 2019 but was suspended by the Labour Party on 8 August last year.

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

He told jurors Mr Jones's speech was amplified through a microphone and speakers and took place "in a setting where violence could readily have been anticipated".

Giving evidence in his trial, Mr Jones said his comment did not refer to far-right protesters involved in the riots at the time, but to those who had reportedly left National Front stickers on a train with razor blades hidden behind them.

Before he made the comment, jurors were shown video where he said to crowds: "You've got women and children using these trains during the summer holidays.

"They don't [care] who they hurt."

He told the court he was "appalled" by political violence, adding: "I've always believed the best way to make people realise who you are and what you are is to do it peacefully."

MP James Cleverly, the shadow secretary for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, said on social media platform X that the verdict was "unacceptable".

"Perverse decisions like this are adding to the anger that people feel and amplifying the belief that there isn't a dispassionate criminal justice system," he said.